diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/common/http/HttpClient.java b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/common/http/HttpClient.java
index 99945c09375..49e27f51ea7 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/common/http/HttpClient.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/common/http/HttpClient.java
@@ -334,12 +334,13 @@ public class HttpClient implements Closeable {
                     String part = pathParts[i];
                     boolean isLast = i == pathParts.length - 1;
                     if (Strings.isEmpty(part) == false) {
-                        String appendPart = part;
+                        unescapedPathParts.add(URLDecoder.decode(part, StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name()));
+                        // if the passed URL ends with a slash, adding an empty string to the
+                        // unescaped paths will ensure the slash will be added back
                         boolean appendSlash = isPathEndsWithSlash && isLast;
                         if (appendSlash) {
-                            appendPart += "/";
+                            unescapedPathParts.add("");
                         }
-                        unescapedPathParts.add(URLDecoder.decode(appendPart, StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name()));
                     }
                 }
             }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/common/http/HttpClientTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/common/http/HttpClientTests.java
index 1f8ec6bb5d8..75e551b58e5 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/common/http/HttpClientTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/common/http/HttpClientTests.java
@@ -751,7 +751,7 @@ public class HttpClientTests extends ESTestCase {
     private void assertCreateUri(String uri, String expectedPath) {
         final HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.builder().fromUrl(uri).build();
         final Tuple<HttpHost, URI> tuple = HttpClient.createURI(request);
-        assertThat(tuple.v2().getPath(), is(expectedPath));
+        assertThat(tuple.v2().getRawPath(), is(expectedPath));
     }
 
     public static ClusterService mockClusterService() {