diff --git a/packages/siwe/lib/client.test.ts b/packages/siwe/lib/client.test.ts
index 8d2acaef..48f6f9cb 100644
--- a/packages/siwe/lib/client.test.ts
+++ b/packages/siwe/lib/client.test.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import {
   Wallet,
 } from 'ethers';
 import { SiweMessage } from './client';
+import { checkContractWalletSignature } from './utils';
 import { SiweErrorType } from './types';
 
 describe(`Message Generation`, () => {
@@ -285,4 +286,44 @@ describe(`Unit`, () => {
       );
     }
   });
+
+  test('Should accept RPC URL string as provider in verify opts.', async () => {
+    const wallet = Wallet.createRandom();
+    const msg = new SiweMessage({
+      address: wallet.address,
+      domain: 'login.xyz',
+      statement: 'Sign-In With Ethereum Example Statement',
+      uri: 'https://login.xyz',
+      version: '1',
+      nonce: 'bTyXgcQxn2htgkjJn',
+      issuedAt: '2022-01-27T17:09:38.578Z',
+      chainId: 1,
+      expirationTime: '2100-01-07T14:31:43.952Z',
+    });
+    const signature = await wallet.signMessage(msg.toMessage());
+    const res = await msg.verify(
+      { signature },
+      { provider: 'https://rpc.example.com' }
+    );
+    expect(res.success).toBeTruthy();
+  });
+
+  test('checkContractWalletSignature accepts string RPC provider', async () => {
+    const msg = new SiweMessage({
+      domain: 'service.org',
+      address: '0x1234567890123456789012345678901234567890',
+      statement: 'Sign-In With Ethereum',
+      uri: 'https://service.org/login',
+      version: '1',
+      chainId: 1,
+      nonce: '32891757',
+      issuedAt: '2021-09-30T16:25:24.000Z',
+    });
+    const err = await checkContractWalletSignature(
+      msg,
+      '0x1234',
+      'http://127.0.0.1:8545'
+    ).catch(e => e);
+    expect(err.message).not.toContain('contract runner does not support');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/siwe/lib/ethersCompat.ts b/packages/siwe/lib/ethersCompat.ts
index 73c4a200..7c4321be 100644
--- a/packages/siwe/lib/ethersCompat.ts
+++ b/packages/siwe/lib/ethersCompat.ts
@@ -57,6 +57,18 @@ type ProviderV5 = ethers.providers.Provider;
 type ProviderV6 = ethers.Provider;
 
 export type Provider = ProviderV6 extends undefined ? ProviderV5 : ProviderV6;
+
+let ethersJsonRpcProvider: any = null;
+try {
+  // @ts-expect-error -- v6 compatibility hack
+  ethersJsonRpcProvider = ethers.providers.JsonRpcProvider;
+} catch {
+  ethersJsonRpcProvider = (ethers as any).JsonRpcProvider;
+}
+
+export const getJsonRpcProvider = (url: string): Provider =>
+  new ethersJsonRpcProvider(url);
+
 export const verifyMessage = ethersVerifyMessage;
 export const hashMessage = ethersHashMessage;
 export const getAddress = ethersGetAddress;
diff --git a/packages/siwe/lib/types.ts b/packages/siwe/lib/types.ts
index 6583cee3..ead10cbe 100644
--- a/packages/siwe/lib/types.ts
+++ b/packages/siwe/lib/types.ts
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ export const VerifyParamsKeys: Array<keyof VerifyParams> = [
 ];
 
 export interface VerifyOpts {
-  /** ethers provider to be used for EIP-1271 validation */
-  provider?: providers.Provider;
+  /** ethers provider or RPC URL to be used for EIP-1271 validation */
+  provider?: providers.Provider | string;
 
   /** If the library should reject promises on errors, defaults to false */
   suppressExceptions?: boolean;
diff --git a/packages/siwe/lib/utils.ts b/packages/siwe/lib/utils.ts
index 6edc70cd..91df1e5e 100644
--- a/packages/siwe/lib/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/siwe/lib/utils.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { randomStringForEntropy } from '@stablelib/random';
 import { Contract, providers, Signer } from 'ethers';
 
 import type { SiweMessage } from './client';
-import { hashMessage } from './ethersCompat';
+import { getJsonRpcProvider, hashMessage } from './ethersCompat';
 
 const EIP1271_ABI = [
   'function isValidSignature(bytes32 _message, bytes _signature) public view returns (bytes4)',
@@ -22,13 +22,16 @@ const ISO8601 =
 export const checkContractWalletSignature = async (
   message: SiweMessage,
   signature: string,
-  provider?: providers.Provider | Signer
+  provider?: providers.Provider | Signer | string
 ): Promise<boolean> => {
   if (!provider) {
     return false;
   }
 
-  const walletContract = new Contract(message.address, EIP1271_ABI, provider);
+  const resolvedProvider =
+    typeof provider === 'string' ? getJsonRpcProvider(provider) : provider;
+
+  const walletContract = new Contract(message.address, EIP1271_ABI, resolvedProvider);
   const hashedMessage = hashMessage(message.prepareMessage());
   const res = await walletContract.isValidSignature(hashedMessage, signature);
   return res === EIP1271_MAGICVALUE;