diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2346cee9..9e7ae664 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,10 +7,17 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+<<<<<<< HEAD
 ### Changed
 
 - Conviva
   - Bumped the Conviva SDK dependency to 4.2.4.
+=======
+### Fixed
+
+- SideloadedSubtitle
+  - Fixed an issue where the stream would not play if an invalid subtitle source is passed and activated.
+>>>>>>> 22a7075 (add changelog)
 
 ## [10.4.0] - 2025-11-05
 
diff --git a/Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Extensions/URL+Scheme.swift b/Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Extensions/URL+Extensions.swift
similarity index 57%
rename from Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Extensions/URL+Scheme.swift
rename to Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Extensions/URL+Extensions.swift
index 15d403af..ae767e88 100644
--- a/Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Extensions/URL+Scheme.swift
+++ b/Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Extensions/URL+Extensions.swift
@@ -28,4 +28,25 @@ extension URL {
         }
         return URL(string: self.absoluteString.replacingCharacters(in: range, with: newScheme + "://"))
     }
+
+    var isValid: Bool {
+        guard self.scheme != nil else {
+            print("[AVSubtitlesLoader] URL scheme is invalid or missing.")
+            return false
+        }
+
+        guard let host = self.host,
+              !host.isEmpty else {
+            print("[AVSubtitlesLoader] URL host is invalid or missing.")
+            return false
+        }
+
+        let disallowedCharacterSet = CharacterSet.urlQueryAllowed.inverted
+        guard self.absoluteString.rangeOfCharacter(from: disallowedCharacterSet) == nil else {
+            print("[AVSubtitlesLoader] URL contains invalid characters.")
+            return false
+        }
+
+        return true
+    }
 }
diff --git a/Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Parsers/MasterPlaylistParser.swift b/Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Parsers/MasterPlaylistParser.swift
index d83af061..218aa558 100644
--- a/Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Parsers/MasterPlaylistParser.swift
+++ b/Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Parsers/MasterPlaylistParser.swift
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ class MasterPlaylistParser: PlaylistParser {
     var constructedManifestArray = [String]()
     fileprivate var lastMediaLine: Int?
     fileprivate let subtitlesGroupId = "THEOsubs"
+
     override init(url: URL) {
         super.init(url: url)
     }
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ class MasterPlaylistParser: PlaylistParser {
                     case HLSKeywords.subtitles.rawValue:
                         line.paramsObject[HLSKeywords.groupId.rawValue] = "\"\(self.subtitlesGroupId)\""
                         self.lastMediaLine = self.constructedManifestArray.count
-                        
+
                     default:
                         break
                     }
diff --git a/Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Utils/SourceValidator.swift b/Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Utils/SourceValidator.swift
index 3df4fa60..e327cdb5 100644
--- a/Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Utils/SourceValidator.swift
+++ b/Code/Sideloaded-TextTracks/Sources/THEOplayerConnectorSideloadedSubtitle/Utils/SourceValidator.swift
@@ -15,7 +15,14 @@ class SourceValidator {
             return nil
         }
 
-        let filteredTextTracks = sideLoadedTextTracks.filter { $0.kind == .subtitles }
+        let subtitlesTextTracks = sideLoadedTextTracks.filter { $0.kind == .subtitles }
+        let filteredTextTracks = subtitlesTextTracks.filter { subtitle in
+            guard subtitle.src.isValid == true else {
+                print("[AVSubtitlesLoader] The provided subtitle source \(subtitle.src.absoluteString) is invalid.")
+                return false
+            }
+            return true
+        }
         if filteredTextTracks.isEmpty {
             print("[AVSubtitlesLoader] Unable to find a valid TextTrackDescription for sideloading.")
             return nil