diff --git a/utils/utils.go b/utils/utils.go
index d4b75efaa..38970a0ae 100644
--- a/utils/utils.go
+++ b/utils/utils.go
@@ -78,9 +78,9 @@ func CheckValidQuery(transferUrl *url.URL, isPlugin bool) (err error) {
 	_, hasPack := query["pack"]
 	directRead, hasDirectRead := query["directread"]
 
-	// // If we are not the plugin, we should not use ?recursive (we should pass a -r flag)
+	// If we are not the plugin, we should not use ?recursive (we should pass a -r flag)
 	if !isPlugin && hasRecursive {
-		return errors.New("cannot use the recursive query parameter when not utilizing the pelican plugin")
+		return errors.New("recursive query parameter is not yet supported in URLs outside of the plugin")
 	}
 
 	// If we have both recursive and pack, we should return a failure
@@ -88,9 +88,10 @@ func CheckValidQuery(transferUrl *url.URL, isPlugin bool) (err error) {
 		return errors.New("cannot have both recursive and pack query parameters")
 	}
 
-	// If we have both recursive and pack, we should return a failure
+	// If there is an argument in the directread query param, inform the user this is deprecated and their argument will be ignored
 	if hasDirectRead && directRead[0] != "" {
-		return errors.New("directread query parameter should not have any values assigned to it")
+		log.Warnln("Arguments (true/false) for the directread query have been deprecated and will be disallowed in a future release. The argument provided will be ignored")
+		return nil
 	}
 
 	// If we have no query, or we have recursive or pack, we are good
diff --git a/utils/utils_test.go b/utils/utils_test.go
index b5d9e98a6..af1ba572f 100644
--- a/utils/utils_test.go
+++ b/utils/utils_test.go
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ func TestValidQuery(t *testing.T) {
 
 		err = CheckValidQuery(transferUrl, false)
 		assert.Error(t, err)
-		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "cannot use the recursive query parameter when not utilizing the pelican plugin")
+		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "recursive query parameter is not yet supported in URLs outside of the plugin")
 	})
 
 	// Test we pass with both pack and directread
@@ -111,13 +111,12 @@ func TestValidQuery(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 
 	// Test if we have a value assigned to directread, we fail
-	t.Run("testValueOnDirectReadFailure", func(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("testValueOnDirectReadNoFailure", func(t *testing.T) {
 		transferStr := "pelican://something/here?directread=false"
 		transferUrl, err := url.Parse(transferStr)
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 
 		err = CheckValidQuery(transferUrl, false)
-		assert.Error(t, err)
-		assert.Equal(t, err.Error(), "directread query parameter should not have any values assigned to it")
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 }