diff --git a/hibernate-reactive-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/reactive/pool/impl/DefaultSqlClientPoolConfiguration.java b/hibernate-reactive-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/reactive/pool/impl/DefaultSqlClientPoolConfiguration.java
index 2e114d4bc9..e4bce4c380 100644
--- a/hibernate-reactive-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/reactive/pool/impl/DefaultSqlClientPoolConfiguration.java
+++ b/hibernate-reactive-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/reactive/pool/impl/DefaultSqlClientPoolConfiguration.java
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ public SqlConnectOptions connectOptions(URI uri) {
 
 		String host = scheme.equals( "oracle" )
 				? oracleHost( uri )
-				: uri.getHost();
+				: findHost( uri, scheme );
 
 		int port = scheme.equals( "oracle" )
 				? oraclePort( uri )
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ public SqlConnectOptions connectOptions(URI uri) {
 			// and the URI class doesn't get the right value for host and port when the url
 			// contains parameters
 			URI uriWithoutParams = URI.create( uri.toString().substring( 0, index ) );
-			host = uriWithoutParams.getHost();
+			host = findHost( uriWithoutParams, scheme );
 			port = uriWithoutParams.getPort();
 		}
 
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ private String oracleHost(URI uri) {
 		int end = host.indexOf( ':' );
 		if ( end == -1 ) {
 			end = host.indexOf( '/' );
-			if ( end == -1) {
+			if ( end == -1 ) {
 				end = host.indexOf( '?' );
 			}
 		}
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ private String oraclePath(URI uri) {
 		string = string.substring( i + 1 );
 		// Check the start of the path
 		int start = string.indexOf( '/' );
-		if ( start == -1) {
+		if ( start == -1 ) {
 			return "";
 		}
 		int end = string.indexOf( '?' ) == -1
@@ -305,6 +305,30 @@ private String oraclePath(URI uri) {
 		return string.substring( start, end );
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * if the host contains invalid characters {@link java.net.URI} parseAuthority(int start, int n) will end up
+	 * throwing a {@link java.net.URISyntaxException} which results in setting the host to NULL.
+	 * This method will reparse if host is NULL and set the host value
+	 */
+	private String findHost(URI uri, String scheme) {
+		if ( uri.getHost() == null ) {
+			String s = uri.toString();
+			String remainder = s.substring( s.indexOf( "://" ) + 3 );
+			char endOfHostPortChar = ( scheme == "sqlserver" ) ? ';' : ':';
+			int end = remainder.indexOf( endOfHostPortChar );
+			// if `port` is not specified, then either a '/' should be present
+			if ( end == -1 ) {
+				end = remainder.indexOf( '/' );
+			}
+			if ( end == -1 ) {
+				return remainder;
+			}
+			return remainder.substring( 0, end );
+		}
+
+		return uri.getHost();
+	}
+
 	private int defaultPort(String scheme) {
 		switch ( scheme ) {
 			case "postgresql":
diff --git a/hibernate-reactive-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/reactive/configuration/JdbcUrlParserTest.java b/hibernate-reactive-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/reactive/configuration/JdbcUrlParserTest.java
index 51b679062d..3cb51468e7 100644
--- a/hibernate-reactive-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/reactive/configuration/JdbcUrlParserTest.java
+++ b/hibernate-reactive-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/reactive/configuration/JdbcUrlParserTest.java
@@ -108,11 +108,41 @@ public void testDatabaseAsProperty() {
 		assertOptions( url, "helloDatabase", params );
 	}
 
+	// URI regex does not include the '_' underscore character, so URI parsing will set the `host` and `userInfo`
+	// to NULL.  This test verifies that the processing captures the actual host value and includes it in the
+	// connect options. Example:  postgresql://local_host:5432/my_schema
+	@Test
+	public void testInvalidHostSucceeds() {
+		Map<String, String> params = new HashMap<>();
+		params.put( "user", "hello" );
+
+		String url = createJdbcUrl( "local_host", dbType().getDefaultPort(), "my_db", params );
+		assertOptions( url, "my_db", "local_host", params );
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testInvalidHostWithoutPort() {
+		Map<String, String> params = new HashMap<>();
+		params.put( "user", "hello" );
+
+		// Port -1 so it won't be added to the url
+		String url = createJdbcUrl( "local_host", -1, "my_db", params );
+		assertOptions( url, "my_db", "local_host", params );
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Create the default {@link SqlConnectOptions} with the given extra properties
 	 * and assert that's correct.
 	 */
 	private void assertOptions(String url, String expectedDbName, Map<String, String> parameters) {
+		assertOptions( url, expectedDbName, "localhost", parameters );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Create the default {@link SqlConnectOptions} with the given extra properties
+	 * and assert that's correct.
+	 */
+	private void assertOptions(String url, String expectedDbName, String expectedHost, Map<String, String> parameters) {
 		URI uri = DefaultSqlClientPool.parse( url );
 		SqlConnectOptions options = new DefaultSqlClientPoolConfiguration().connectOptions( uri );
 
@@ -125,7 +155,7 @@ private void assertOptions(String url, String expectedDbName, Map<String, String
 		assertThat( options.getUser() ).as( "URL: " + url ).isEqualTo( username );
 		assertThat( options.getPassword() ).as( "URL: " + url ).isEqualTo( password );
 		assertThat( options.getDatabase() ).as( "URL: " + url ).isEqualTo( expectedDbName );
-		assertThat( options.getHost() ).as( "URL: " + url ).isEqualTo( "localhost" );
+		assertThat( options.getHost() ).as( "URL: " + url ).isEqualTo( expectedHost );
 		assertThat( options.getPort() ).as( "URL: " + url ).isEqualTo( dbType().getDefaultPort() );
 
 		// Check extra properties