diff --git a/qutebrowser/utils/__init__.py b/qutebrowser/utils/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1adb8dbe5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qutebrowser/utils/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+from PyQt5.QtCore import QUrl
+
+def qurl(url):
+    if isinstance(url, QUrl):
+        return url
+    if not url.startswith('http://'):
+        url = 'http://' + url
+    return QUrl(url)