diff --git a/.rubocop_todo.yml b/.rubocop_todo.yml
index e199ec6e..4bc0a3c4 100644
--- a/.rubocop_todo.yml
+++ b/.rubocop_todo.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # This configuration was generated by
 # `rubocop --auto-gen-config`
-# on 2025-04-02 09:32:03 UTC using RuboCop version 1.75.1.
+# on 2025-04-12 16:19:21 UTC using RuboCop version 1.75.1.
 # The point is for the user to remove these configuration records
 # one by one as the offenses are removed from the code base.
 # Note that changes in the inspected code, or installation of new
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 # Offense count: 1
 # Configuration parameters: AllowedMethods, AllowedPatterns, CountRepeatedAttributes.
 Metrics/AbcSize:
-  Max: 21
+  Max: 24
 
 # Offense count: 4
 # Configuration parameters: CountComments, CountAsOne.
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ Metrics/ClassLength:
 # Offense count: 4
 # Configuration parameters: CountComments, CountAsOne, AllowedMethods, AllowedPatterns.
 Metrics/MethodLength:
-  Max: 15
+  Max: 18
 
 # Offense count: 3
 # Configuration parameters: Max, CountKeywordArgs.
diff --git a/lib/meilisearch/http_request.rb b/lib/meilisearch/http_request.rb
index 62811f0c..2c4a3b3d 100644
--- a/lib/meilisearch/http_request.rb
+++ b/lib/meilisearch/http_request.rb
@@ -118,6 +118,10 @@ def send_request(http_method, relative_path, config:)
         response = http_method.call(@base_url + relative_path, request_config)
       rescue Errno::ECONNREFUSED, Errno::EPIPE => e
         raise CommunicationError, e.message
+      rescue URI::InvalidURIError => e
+        raise CommunicationError, "Client URL missing scheme/protocol. Did you mean https://#{@base_url}" unless @base_url =~ %r{^\w+://}
+
+        raise e
       rescue Net::OpenTimeout, Net::ReadTimeout => e
         attempts += 1
         raise TimeoutError, e.message unless attempts <= max_retries && safe_to_retry?(config[:method_type], e)
diff --git a/spec/meilisearch/client/errors_spec.rb b/spec/meilisearch/client/errors_spec.rb
index fe3e31a3..c131d4e8 100644
--- a/spec/meilisearch/client/errors_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/meilisearch/client/errors_spec.rb
@@ -41,4 +41,13 @@
       end.to raise_error(Meilisearch::InvalidDocumentId)
     end
   end
+
+  context 'when url is missing protocol' do
+    it 'throws a CommunicationError with a useful message' do
+      expect do
+        c = Meilisearch::Client.new('localhost:7700')
+        c.health
+      end.to raise_error(Meilisearch::CommunicationError).with_message(/protocol/)
+    end
+  end
 end