diff --git a/internal/backend/local/config_test.go b/internal/backend/local/config_test.go
index c9b6be61c..4c2ebc7bc 100644
--- a/internal/backend/local/config_test.go
+++ b/internal/backend/local/config_test.go
@@ -11,6 +11,34 @@ var configTests = []test.ConfigTestData[Config]{
 		Path:        "/some/path",
 		Connections: 2,
 	}},
+	{S: "local:dir1/dir2", Cfg: Config{
+		Path:        "dir1/dir2",
+		Connections: 2,
+	}},
+	{S: "local:../dir1/dir2", Cfg: Config{
+		Path:        "../dir1/dir2",
+		Connections: 2,
+	}},
+	{S: "local:/dir1:foobar/dir2", Cfg: Config{
+		Path:        "/dir1:foobar/dir2",
+		Connections: 2,
+	}},
+	{S: `local:\dir1\foobar\dir2`, Cfg: Config{
+		Path:        `\dir1\foobar\dir2`,
+		Connections: 2,
+	}},
+	{S: `local:c:\dir1\foobar\dir2`, Cfg: Config{
+		Path:        `c:\dir1\foobar\dir2`,
+		Connections: 2,
+	}},
+	{S: `local:C:\Users\appveyor\AppData\Local\Temp\1\restic-test-879453535\repo`, Cfg: Config{
+		Path:        `C:\Users\appveyor\AppData\Local\Temp\1\restic-test-879453535\repo`,
+		Connections: 2,
+	}},
+	{S: `local:c:/dir1/foobar/dir2`, Cfg: Config{
+		Path:        `c:/dir1/foobar/dir2`,
+		Connections: 2,
+	}},
 }
 
 func TestParseConfig(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/internal/backend/location/location_test.go b/internal/backend/location/location_test.go
index 6e9042200..933f2fc08 100644
--- a/internal/backend/location/location_test.go
+++ b/internal/backend/location/location_test.go
@@ -1,345 +1,64 @@
 package location_test
 
 import (
-	"net/url"
-	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 
-	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/backend/b2"
-	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/backend/local"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/backend/location"
-	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/backend/rest"
-	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/backend/s3"
-	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/backend/sftp"
-	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/backend/swift"
+	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/restic"
+	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/test"
 )
 
-func parseURL(s string) *url.URL {
-	u, err := url.Parse(s)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-
-	return u
+type testConfig struct {
+	loc string
 }
 
-var parseTests = []struct {
-	s string
-	u location.Location
-}{
-	{
-		"local:/srv/repo",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "local",
-			Config: &local.Config{
-				Path:        "/srv/repo",
-				Connections: 2,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"local:dir1/dir2",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "local",
-			Config: &local.Config{
-				Path:        "dir1/dir2",
-				Connections: 2,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"local:dir1/dir2",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "local",
-			Config: &local.Config{
-				Path:        "dir1/dir2",
-				Connections: 2,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"dir1/dir2",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "local",
-			Config: &local.Config{
-				Path:        "dir1/dir2",
-				Connections: 2,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"/dir1/dir2",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "local",
-			Config: &local.Config{
-				Path:        "/dir1/dir2",
-				Connections: 2,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"local:../dir1/dir2",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "local",
-			Config: &local.Config{
-				Path:        "../dir1/dir2",
-				Connections: 2,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"/dir1/dir2",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "local",
-			Config: &local.Config{
-				Path:        "/dir1/dir2",
-				Connections: 2,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"/dir1:foobar/dir2",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "local",
-			Config: &local.Config{
-				Path:        "/dir1:foobar/dir2",
-				Connections: 2,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		`\dir1\foobar\dir2`,
-		location.Location{Scheme: "local",
-			Config: &local.Config{
-				Path:        `\dir1\foobar\dir2`,
-				Connections: 2,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		`c:\dir1\foobar\dir2`,
-		location.Location{Scheme: "local",
-			Config: &local.Config{
-				Path:        `c:\dir1\foobar\dir2`,
-				Connections: 2,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		`C:\Users\appveyor\AppData\Local\Temp\1\restic-test-879453535\repo`,
-		location.Location{Scheme: "local",
-			Config: &local.Config{
-				Path:        `C:\Users\appveyor\AppData\Local\Temp\1\restic-test-879453535\repo`,
-				Connections: 2,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		`c:/dir1/foobar/dir2`,
-		location.Location{Scheme: "local",
-			Config: &local.Config{
-				Path:        `c:/dir1/foobar/dir2`,
-				Connections: 2,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"sftp:user@host:/srv/repo",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "sftp",
-			Config: &sftp.Config{
-				User:        "user",
-				Host:        "host",
-				Path:        "/srv/repo",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"sftp:host:/srv/repo",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "sftp",
-			Config: &sftp.Config{
-				User:        "",
-				Host:        "host",
-				Path:        "/srv/repo",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"sftp://user@host/srv/repo",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "sftp",
-			Config: &sftp.Config{
-				User:        "user",
-				Host:        "host",
-				Path:        "srv/repo",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"sftp://user@host//srv/repo",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "sftp",
-			Config: &sftp.Config{
-				User:        "user",
-				Host:        "host",
-				Path:        "/srv/repo",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-
-	{
-		"s3://eu-central-1/bucketname",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "s3",
-			Config: &s3.Config{
-				Endpoint:    "eu-central-1",
-				Bucket:      "bucketname",
-				Prefix:      "",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"s3://hostname.foo/bucketname",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "s3",
-			Config: &s3.Config{
-				Endpoint:    "hostname.foo",
-				Bucket:      "bucketname",
-				Prefix:      "",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"s3://hostname.foo/bucketname/prefix/directory",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "s3",
-			Config: &s3.Config{
-				Endpoint:    "hostname.foo",
-				Bucket:      "bucketname",
-				Prefix:      "prefix/directory",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"s3:eu-central-1/repo",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "s3",
-			Config: &s3.Config{
-				Endpoint:    "eu-central-1",
-				Bucket:      "repo",
-				Prefix:      "",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"s3:eu-central-1/repo/prefix/directory",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "s3",
-			Config: &s3.Config{
-				Endpoint:    "eu-central-1",
-				Bucket:      "repo",
-				Prefix:      "prefix/directory",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"s3:https://hostname.foo/repo",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "s3",
-			Config: &s3.Config{
-				Endpoint:    "hostname.foo",
-				Bucket:      "repo",
-				Prefix:      "",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"s3:https://hostname.foo/repo/prefix/directory",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "s3",
-			Config: &s3.Config{
-				Endpoint:    "hostname.foo",
-				Bucket:      "repo",
-				Prefix:      "prefix/directory",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"s3:http://hostname.foo/repo",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "s3",
-			Config: &s3.Config{
-				Endpoint:    "hostname.foo",
-				Bucket:      "repo",
-				Prefix:      "",
-				UseHTTP:     true,
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"swift:container17:/",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "swift",
-			Config: &swift.Config{
-				Container:   "container17",
-				Prefix:      "",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"swift:container17:/prefix97",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "swift",
-			Config: &swift.Config{
-				Container:   "container17",
-				Prefix:      "prefix97",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"rest:http://hostname.foo:1234/",
-		location.Location{Scheme: "rest",
-			Config: &rest.Config{
-				URL:         parseURL("http://hostname.foo:1234/"),
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"b2:bucketname:/prefix", location.Location{Scheme: "b2",
-			Config: &b2.Config{
-				Bucket:      "bucketname",
-				Prefix:      "prefix",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
-	{
-		"b2:bucketname", location.Location{Scheme: "b2",
-			Config: &b2.Config{
-				Bucket:      "bucketname",
-				Prefix:      "",
-				Connections: 5,
-			},
-		},
-	},
+func testFactory() location.Factory {
+	return location.NewHTTPBackendFactory[testConfig, restic.Backend](
+		func(s string) (*testConfig, error) {
+			return &testConfig{loc: s}, nil
+		}, nil, nil, nil,
+	)
 }
 
 func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
-	for i, test := range parseTests {
-		t.Run(test.s, func(t *testing.T) {
-			u, err := location.Parse(test.s)
+	registry := location.NewRegistry()
+	registry.Register("test", testFactory())
+
+	path := "test:example"
+	u, err := location.Parse(registry, path)
+	test.OK(t, err)
+	test.Equals(t, "test", u.Scheme)
+	test.Equals(t, &testConfig{loc: path}, u.Config)
+}
+
+func TestParseFallback(t *testing.T) {
+	fallbackTests := []string{
+		"dir1/dir2",
+		"/dir1/dir2",
+		"/dir1:foobar/dir2",
+		`\dir1\foobar\dir2`,
+		`c:\dir1\foobar\dir2`,
+		`C:\Users\appveyor\AppData\Local\Temp\1\restic-test-879453535\repo`,
+		`c:/dir1/foobar/dir2`,
+	}
+
+	registry := location.NewRegistry()
+	registry.Register("local", testFactory())
+
+	for _, path := range fallbackTests {
+		t.Run(path, func(t *testing.T) {
+			u, err := location.Parse(registry, path)
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 			}
-
-			if test.u.Scheme != u.Scheme {
-				t.Errorf("test %d: scheme does not match, want %q, got %q",
-					i, test.u.Scheme, u.Scheme)
-			}
-
-			if !reflect.DeepEqual(test.u.Config, u.Config) {
-				t.Errorf("test %d: cfg map does not match, want:\n  %#v\ngot: \n  %#v",
-					i, test.u.Config, u.Config)
-			}
+			test.Equals(t, "local", u.Scheme)
+			test.Equals(t, "local:"+path, u.Config.(*testConfig).loc)
 		})
 	}
 }
 
 func TestInvalidScheme(t *testing.T) {
+	registry := location.NewRegistry()
 	var invalidSchemes = []string{
 		"foobar:xxx",
 		"foobar:/dir/dir2",
@@ -347,7 +66,7 @@ func TestInvalidScheme(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for _, s := range invalidSchemes {
 		t.Run(s, func(t *testing.T) {
-			_, err := location.Parse(s)
+			_, err := location.Parse(registry, s)
 			if err == nil {
 				t.Fatalf("error for invalid location %q not found", s)
 			}
diff --git a/internal/backend/s3/config_test.go b/internal/backend/s3/config_test.go
index 21fbb27b9..085dbeedb 100644
--- a/internal/backend/s3/config_test.go
+++ b/internal/backend/s3/config_test.go
@@ -56,6 +56,24 @@ var configTests = []test.ConfigTestData[Config]{
 		Prefix:      "prefix/directory",
 		Connections: 5,
 	}},
+	{S: "s3:hostname.foo/foobar", Cfg: Config{
+		Endpoint:    "hostname.foo",
+		Bucket:      "foobar",
+		Prefix:      "",
+		Connections: 5,
+	}},
+	{S: "s3:hostname.foo/foobar/prefix/directory", Cfg: Config{
+		Endpoint:    "hostname.foo",
+		Bucket:      "foobar",
+		Prefix:      "prefix/directory",
+		Connections: 5,
+	}},
+	{S: "s3:https://hostname/foobar", Cfg: Config{
+		Endpoint:    "hostname",
+		Bucket:      "foobar",
+		Prefix:      "",
+		Connections: 5,
+	}},
 	{S: "s3:https://hostname:9999/foobar", Cfg: Config{
 		Endpoint:    "hostname:9999",
 		Bucket:      "foobar",