diff --git a/src/Controls/tests/TestCases.HostApp/Issues/Issue26843.cs b/src/Controls/tests/TestCases.HostApp/Issues/Issue26843.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c78ec35adf14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Controls/tests/TestCases.HostApp/Issues/Issue26843.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+using Microsoft.Maui.Controls;
+using System.Linq;
+ 
+namespace Maui.Controls.Sample.Issues
+{
+    [XamlCompilation(XamlCompilationOptions.Compile)]
+    [Issue(IssueTracker.Github, 26843, "WebView Fails to Load URLs with Certain Encoded Characters on Android", PlatformAffected.Android, isInternetRequired:true)]
+    public partial class Issue26843 : ContentPage
+    {
+        private Grid layout;
+        private Label navigationResultLabel;
+        private bool isSourceSet;
+ 
+        public Issue26843()
+        {
+            navigationResultLabel = new Label
+            {
+                AutomationId = "NavigationResultLabel",
+                HorizontalOptions = LayoutOptions.Center,
+                VerticalOptions = LayoutOptions.Center,
+                TextColor = Colors.Black,
+                FontSize = 14
+            };
+ 
+            var webViewSourceEntry = new Entry
+            {
+                AutomationId = "WebViewSourceEntry",
+                Placeholder = "Enter URL"
+            };
+ 
+            var loadButton = new Button
+            {
+                AutomationId = "LoadUrlButton",
+                Text = "Load URL"
+            };
+ 
+            loadButton.Clicked += (sender, e) =>
+            {
+                if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(webViewSourceEntry.Text))
+                {
+                    var existingWebView = layout.Children.FirstOrDefault(c => c is WebView);
+                    if (existingWebView != null)
+                    {
+                        layout.Children.Remove(existingWebView);
+                    }
+ 
+                    var webView = new WebView
+                    {
+                        AutomationId = "WebView",
+                        ZIndex = 1,
+                        Source = webViewSourceEntry.Text
+                    };
+ 
+                    webView.Navigated += OnNavigated;
+                    isSourceSet = true;
+ 
+                    layout.Children.Add(webView);
+                    Grid.SetRow(webView, 3);
+                }
+            };
+ 
+            layout = new Grid
+            {
+                RowDefinitions =
+                {
+                    new RowDefinition { Height = new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Auto) },
+                    new RowDefinition { Height = new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Auto) },
+                    new RowDefinition { Height = new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Auto) },
+                    new RowDefinition { Height = new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Star) }
+                },
+                Children = { navigationResultLabel, webViewSourceEntry, loadButton }
+            };
+ 
+            Grid.SetRow(navigationResultLabel, 0);
+            Grid.SetRow(webViewSourceEntry, 1);
+            Grid.SetRow(loadButton, 2);
+ 
+            Content = layout;
+        }
+ 
+        private void OnNavigated(object sender, WebNavigatedEventArgs e)
+        {
+            if (isSourceSet)
+            {
+                if (e.Result == WebNavigationResult.Success)
+                {
+                    navigationResultLabel.Text = "Successfully navigated to the encoded URL";
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    navigationResultLabel.Text = "Failed to navigate to the encoded URL";
+                }
+                isSourceSet = false;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+ 
+ 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Controls/tests/TestCases.Shared.Tests/Tests/Issues/Issue26843.cs b/src/Controls/tests/TestCases.Shared.Tests/Tests/Issues/Issue26843.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..de9cbee74f76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Controls/tests/TestCases.Shared.Tests/Tests/Issues/Issue26843.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#if TEST_FAILS_ON_WINDOWS // Skipping this test on Windows due to WebView's OnNavigated event returning WebNavigationResult.Failure for URLs with non-Western characters. More information: https://github.com/dotnet/maui/issues/27425
+using NUnit.Framework;
+using UITest.Appium;
+using UITest.Core;
+ 
+namespace Microsoft.Maui.TestCases.Tests.Issues
+{
+    internal class Issue26843 : _IssuesUITest
+    {
+        public Issue26843(TestDevice device) : base(device) { }
+ 
+        public override string Issue => "WebView Fails to Load URLs with Certain Encoded Characters on Android";
+
+        /// <summary>
+		/// This test validates that absolute URIs are not treated as relative ones. 
+		/// Notably, we test URIs with non-Western characters (e.g., "Ğ" and spaces encoded as "%20").
+		/// </summary>
+        [Test]
+        [Category(UITestCategories.WebView)]
+        [TestCase("https://example.com/test-Ağ-Sistem%20Bilgi%20Güvenliği%20Md/Guide.pdf")]
+        [TestCase("https://google.com/[]")]
+        public void WebViewShouldLoadEncodedUrl(string url)
+        {
+            App.WaitForElement("WebViewSourceEntry");
+            App.ClearText("WebViewSourceEntry");
+            App.Tap("WebViewSourceEntry");
+            App.EnterText("WebViewSourceEntry", url);
+            App.WaitForElement("LoadUrlButton");
+            App.Tap("LoadUrlButton");
+            var label = App.WaitForElement("NavigationResultLabel");
+            Assert.That(label.GetText(), Is.EqualTo("Successfully navigated to the encoded URL"));
+        }
+ 
+        public override void TestSetup()
+        {
+            base.TestSetup();
+ 
+            try
+            {
+                App.WaitForElement("NoInternetAccessLabel", timeout: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));
+                Assert.Inconclusive("This device doesn't have internet access");
+            }
+            catch (TimeoutException)
+            {
+                // Element not found within timeout, assume internet is available
+                // Continue with the test
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+#endif
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Core/src/Platform/Android/MauiWebView.cs b/src/Core/src/Platform/Android/MauiWebView.cs
index 807e7d705e83..03a3d80fe5d1 100644
--- a/src/Core/src/Platform/Android/MauiWebView.cs
+++ b/src/Core/src/Platform/Android/MauiWebView.cs
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ void IWebViewDelegate.LoadUrl(string? url)
 					_handler.CurrentNavigationEvent = WebNavigationEvent.NewPage;
 				}
 
-				if (url != null && !url.StartsWith('/') && !Uri.IsWellFormedUriString(url, UriKind.Absolute))
+				if (url is not null && !url.StartsWith('/') && !Uri.TryCreate(url, UriKind.Absolute, out _))
 				{
 					// URLs like "index.html" can't possibly load, so try "file:///android_asset/index.html"
 					url = AssetBaseUrl + url;