diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 225557c..f1cf518 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+## v0.9.14 (2025-12-09)
+
+### Refactor
+
+- remove url_to_str
+
 ## v0.9.13 (2025-12-08)
 
 ### Refactor
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e6513fb..04042f4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Collection acronyms for identification - cafi
 
-[![release: 0.9.13](https://img.shields.io/badge/rel-0.9.13-blue.svg?style=flat-square)](https://github.com/LeibnizDSMZ/cafi)
+[![release: 0.9.14](https://img.shields.io/badge/rel-0.9.14-blue.svg?style=flat-square)](https://github.com/LeibnizDSMZ/cafi)
 [![MIT LICENSE](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-brightgreen.svg?style=flat-square)](https://choosealicense.com/licenses/mit/)
 [![DATA LICENSE - CC BY 4.0](https://img.shields.io/badge/Data%20License-CC%20BY%204.0-brightgreen.svg?style=flat-square)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
 [![Documentation Status](https://img.shields.io/badge/docs-GitHub-blue.svg?style=flat-square)](https://LeibnizDSMZ.github.io/cafi/)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 84fc8a5..c388271 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "cafi"
-version = "0.9.13"
+version = "0.9.14"
 description = "This project acts as a registry for acronyms used by culture collections."
 readme = "README.md"
 authors = [{ name = "Artur Lissin", email = "artur.lissin@dsmz.de" }]
diff --git a/src/cafi/constants/versions.py b/src/cafi/constants/versions.py
index c3c24d2..710c56d 100644
--- a/src/cafi/constants/versions.py
+++ b/src/cafi/constants/versions.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 from typing import Final
 
-CURRENT_VER: Final[str] = "v0.9.13"
+CURRENT_VER: Final[str] = "v0.9.14"
 STABLE_VER: Final[str] = "main"
diff --git a/src/cafi/container/fun/acr_db.py b/src/cafi/container/fun/acr_db.py
index 27ea9e6..6c0d606 100644
--- a/src/cafi/container/fun/acr_db.py
+++ b/src/cafi/container/fun/acr_db.py
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 
 from cafi.constants.types import ACR_DB_T, ACR_MIN_DB_T, CCNO_DB_T
 from cafi.container.acr_db import AcrDbEntry, CatArgs
-from cafi.container.fun.format import url_to_str
 from cafi.errors.custom_exceptions import ValJsonEx
 from pydantic import HttpUrl
 
@@ -100,6 +99,16 @@ def _get_domain(url: str, /) -> str:
     return domain.group(1)
 
 
+def _unquote_http_url(href: HttpUrl, /) -> str:
+    return (
+        str(href)
+        .replace("%7B", "{")
+        .replace("%7D", "}")
+        .replace("%3C", "<")
+        .replace("%3E", ">")
+    )
+
+
 def _check_uri_template(uri: str, /) -> None:
     sub_parts = defaultdict(list)
     for param in _VALID_URI.findall(uri):
@@ -120,8 +129,8 @@ def _check_uri_template(uri: str, /) -> None:
 def check_uri_template(uris: list[HttpUrl], /) -> None:
     domains = set()
     for uri in uris:
-        _check_uri_template(url_to_str(uri))
-        domains.add(_get_domain(url_to_str(uri)))
+        _check_uri_template(_unquote_http_url(uri))
+        domains.add(_get_domain(str(uri)))
     if len(domains) > 1:
         raise ValJsonEx(f"multiple catalogue domains detected [{uris!s}]")
 
@@ -205,11 +214,12 @@ def _fix_opt(href: str, match: tuple[str, str], args: CatArgs, /) -> str:
     )
 
 
-def replace_param_value(href: str, args: CatArgs, /) -> str:
-    for opt in _OPT_VAL.findall(href):
-        href = _fix_opt(href, opt, args)
+def replace_param_value(href: HttpUrl, args: CatArgs, /) -> str:
+    href_str = _unquote_http_url(href)
+    for opt in _OPT_VAL.findall(href_str):
+        href_str = _fix_opt(href_str, opt, args)
     for che, repl in _REPL_PARAM.items():
-        for mat in che.finditer(href):
+        for mat in che.finditer(href_str):
             for to_repl, repl_val in repl(mat.group(0), args).items():
-                href = href.replace(to_repl, quote(repl_val, safe=""))
-    return href
+                href_str = href_str.replace(to_repl, quote(repl_val, safe=""))
+    return str(HttpUrl(url=href_str))
diff --git a/src/cafi/container/fun/format.py b/src/cafi/container/fun/format.py
index 7b24a66..f298eb5 100644
--- a/src/cafi/container/fun/format.py
+++ b/src/cafi/container/fun/format.py
@@ -1,16 +1,4 @@
 import re
-from typing import Protocol
-from urllib.parse import unquote_plus
-
-
-class _URLlike(Protocol):
-    def unicode_string(self) -> str: ...
-
-
-def url_to_str(url: _URLlike | None, /) -> str:
-    if url is None:
-        return ""
-    return unquote_plus(url.unicode_string())
 
 
 def is_regex(val: str) -> str:
diff --git a/src/cafi/library/catalogue.py b/src/cafi/library/catalogue.py
index 7439562..0dc4a7e 100644
--- a/src/cafi/library/catalogue.py
+++ b/src/cafi/library/catalogue.py
@@ -3,12 +3,10 @@
 from cafi.container.fun.acr_db import replace_param_value
 from cafi.container.links import CatalogueLink, LinkLevel
 
-from cafi.container.fun.acr_db import url_to_str
-
 
 def create_catalogue_link(acr_db: AcrDbEntry, args: CatArgs, /) -> Iterable[str]:
     for cat in acr_db.catalogue:
-        yield replace_param_value(url_to_str(cat), args)
+        yield replace_param_value(cat, args)
 
 
 def _create_link_level(cat_link: list[str], hom_link: str, /) -> LinkLevel:
@@ -29,11 +27,9 @@ def create_ccno_links(
         return CatalogueLink(level=LinkLevel.emp)
     cat_link, hom_link = [], ""
     if LinkLevel.cat not in exclude:
-        cat_link = [
-            replace_param_value(url_to_str(cat), args) for cat in acr_db.catalogue
-        ]
+        cat_link = [replace_param_value(cat, args) for cat in acr_db.catalogue]
     if LinkLevel.home not in exclude:
-        hom_link = url_to_str(acr_db.homepage)
+        hom_link = "" if acr_db.homepage is None else str(acr_db.homepage)
     return CatalogueLink(
         level=_create_link_level(cat_link, hom_link),
         catalogue=cat_link,
diff --git a/src/cafi/library/validate.py b/src/cafi/library/validate.py
index fd5400b..75e96bb 100644
--- a/src/cafi/library/validate.py
+++ b/src/cafi/library/validate.py
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
     ACR_DB_KEYS,
 )
 from cafi.container.fun.acr_db import check_uri_template, create_acr_db, create_ccno_db
-from cafi.container.fun.format import url_to_str
 from cafi.errors.custom_exceptions import ValJsonEx
 
 
@@ -50,7 +49,7 @@ def _check_unique_gid(
 
 
 def _check_active(cur_acr_con: AcrDbEntry, /) -> None:
-    if not cur_acr_con.active and url_to_str(cur_acr_con.homepage) != "":
+    if not cur_acr_con.active and cur_acr_con.homepage is not None:
         raise ValJsonEx(
             f"{cur_acr_con.acr}: 'inactive' BRC can not have a 'homepage' link"
         )
diff --git a/tests/library/test_ccno_link.py b/tests/library/test_ccno_link.py
index 92fa314..d5bc1bc 100644
--- a/tests/library/test_ccno_link.py
+++ b/tests/library/test_ccno_link.py
@@ -76,5 +76,5 @@ def test_link_simple_catalogue_split_core(
         cat_id, cat_args = ccno_lmg_1_1
         acr_db = parse_acr_db(json.loads(load_fix_acr_db)).get(cat_id, None)
         assert acr_db is not None
-        cat = "https://bccm.belspo.be/page/lmg-catalogue-display/fields/name/LMG 1t1"
+        cat = "https://bccm.belspo.be/page/lmg-catalogue-display/fields/name/LMG%201t1"
         assert cat in set(create_catalogue_link(acr_db, cat_args))
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index c05a478..50a26f7 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "cafi"
-version = "0.9.13"
+version = "0.9.14"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "pydantic" },