diff --git a/apps/server/src/usage/UsageLimitSources.test.ts b/apps/server/src/usage/UsageLimitSources.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2b9f6c2e5d26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/server/src/usage/UsageLimitSources.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+import { expect, it } from "@effect/vitest";
+import { ServerConfigStreamEvent, UsageLimitSourceId } from "@t3tools/contracts";
+import * as Effect from "effect/Effect";
+import * as Layer from "effect/Layer";
+import * as Schema from "effect/Schema";
+import { HttpClient } from "effect/unstable/http";
+
+import * as BackgroundPolicy from "../background/BackgroundPolicy.ts";
+import * as ServerSettings from "../serverSettings.ts";
+import * as UsageLimitSources from "./UsageLimitSources.ts";
+
+const encodeConfigEvent = Schema.encodeSync(ServerConfigStreamEvent);
+
+it.effect("keeps malformed source URLs encodable for config subscribers", () =>
+  Effect.gen(function* () {
+    const sources = yield* UsageLimitSources.make;
+    yield* sources.refresh;
+    const snapshots = yield* sources.current;
+    expect(snapshots.map((source) => source.label)).toEqual([
+      "local-hub",
+      "opaque-hub",
+      "Named hub",
+      "hub.test:8317",
+      "Usage limit source",
+    ]);
+    expect(() =>
+      encodeConfigEvent({
+        version: 1,
+        type: "usageLimitSourcesUpdated",
+        payload: { sources: snapshots },
+      }),
+    ).not.toThrow();
+    expect(snapshots.every((source) => source.error === "No management key configured.")).toBe(
+      true,
+    );
+  }).pipe(
+    Effect.provide([
+      ServerSettings.layerTest({
+        usageLimitSources: {
+          [UsageLimitSourceId.make("local-hub")]: {
+            kind: "cliproxy",
+            url: "localhost:8317",
+            managementKey: "",
+            enabled: true,
+          },
+          [UsageLimitSourceId.make("opaque-hub")]: {
+            kind: "cliproxy",
+            url: "file:///tmp/hub",
+            managementKey: "",
+            enabled: true,
+          },
+          [UsageLimitSourceId.make("named-hub")]: {
+            kind: "cliproxy",
+            url: "localhost:8317",
+            label: "Named hub",
+            managementKey: "",
+            enabled: true,
+          },
+          [UsageLimitSourceId.make("valid-hub")]: {
+            kind: "cliproxy",
+            url: "https://hub.test:8317",
+            managementKey: "",
+            enabled: true,
+          },
+          [UsageLimitSourceId.make(" ")]: {
+            kind: "cliproxy",
+            url: "localhost:8317",
+            managementKey: "",
+            enabled: true,
+          },
+        },
+      }),
+      Layer.mock(BackgroundPolicy.BackgroundPolicy)({
+        shouldRunScopeWork: () => Effect.succeed(false),
+      }),
+      Layer.succeed(
+        HttpClient.HttpClient,
+        HttpClient.make(() => Effect.die("Unexpected network request")),
+      ),
+    ]),
+    Effect.scoped,
+  ),
+);
diff --git a/apps/server/src/usage/UsageLimitSources.ts b/apps/server/src/usage/UsageLimitSources.ts
index 957a6ab3321e..8a064e6e1f93 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/usage/UsageLimitSources.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/usage/UsageLimitSources.ts
@@ -53,10 +53,11 @@ export class UsageLimitSources extends Context.Service<
 
 function sourceLabel(id: string, config: UsageLimitSourceConfig): string {
   if (config.label) return config.label;
+  const fallback = id.trim() || "Usage limit source";
   try {
-    return new URL(config.url).host;
+    return new URL(config.url).host || fallback;
   } catch {
-    return id;
+    return fallback;
   }
 }