diff --git a/dvc/repo/ls_url.py b/dvc/repo/ls_url.py
index d2248baab..7f211678f 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/ls_url.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/ls_url.py
@@ -10,10 +10,16 @@ def parse_external_url(url):
 
 def ls_url(url, recursive=False):
     fs, fs_path = parse_external_url(url)
+    return _ls_url(fs, fs_path, orig_url=url, recursive=recursive)
+
+
+def _ls_url(fs, fs_path, orig_url=None, recursive=False):
+    if orig_url is None:
+        orig_url = fs_path
     try:
         info = fs.info(fs_path)
     except FileNotFoundError as exc:
-        raise URLMissingError(url) from exc
+        raise URLMissingError(orig_url) from exc
     if info["type"] != "directory":
         return [{"path": info["name"], "isdir": False}]
 
diff --git a/dvc/testing/tmp_dir.py b/dvc/testing/tmp_dir.py
index ea4cd0d77..f90066167 100644
--- a/dvc/testing/tmp_dir.py
+++ b/dvc/testing/tmp_dir.py
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ import sys
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from functools import partialmethod
 
+from dvc.fs import LocalFileSystem
 from dvc.utils import serialize
 from dvc.utils.fs import makedirs
 
@@ -70,6 +71,10 @@ class TmpDir(pathlib.Path):
     def config(self):
         return {"url": self.url}
 
+    @property
+    def fs(self):
+        return LocalFileSystem(**self.config)
+
     def __new__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
         if cls is TmpDir:
             cls = (  # pylint: disable=self-cls-assignment
diff --git a/dvc/testing/workspace_tests.py b/dvc/testing/workspace_tests.py
index 0b883a7ba..f9dde1911 100644
--- a/dvc/testing/workspace_tests.py
+++ b/dvc/testing/workspace_tests.py
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ import os
 
 import pytest
 
+from dvc.exceptions import URLMissingError
+from dvc.repo.ls_url import _ls_url
+
 
 class TestImport:
     def test_import(self, tmp_dir, dvc, workspace):
@@ -134,3 +137,66 @@ class TestAdd:
         assert (
             workspace / "cache" / dir_hash_value[:2] / dir_hash_value[2:]
         ).is_file()
+
+
+def match_files(fs, entries, expected):
+    entries_content = {
+        (fs.path.normpath(d["path"]), d["isdir"]) for d in entries
+    }
+    expected_content = {
+        (fs.path.normpath(d["path"]), d["isdir"]) for d in expected
+    }
+    assert entries_content == expected_content
+
+
+class TestLsUrl:
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("fname", ["foo", "foo.dvc", "dir/foo"])
+    def test_file(self, cloud, fname):
+        cloud.gen({fname: "foo contents"})
+        fs = cloud.fs
+        fs_path = fs.path.join(cloud.fs_path, fname)
+
+        result = _ls_url(fs, fs_path)
+
+        match_files(fs, result, [{"path": fs_path, "isdir": False}])
+
+    def test_dir(self, cloud):
+        cloud.gen(
+            {"dir/foo": "foo contents", "dir/subdir/bar": "bar contents"}
+        )
+        fs = cloud.fs
+        fs_path = fs.path.join(cloud.fs_path, "dir")
+
+        result = _ls_url(fs, fs_path)
+        match_files(
+            fs,
+            result,
+            [
+                {"path": "foo", "isdir": False},
+                {"path": "subdir", "isdir": True},
+            ],
+        )
+
+    def test_recursive(self, cloud):
+        cloud.gen(
+            {"dir/foo": "foo contents", "dir/subdir/bar": "bar contents"}
+        )
+        fs = cloud.fs
+        fs_path = fs.path.join(cloud.fs_path, "dir")
+
+        result = _ls_url(fs, fs_path, recursive=True)
+
+        match_files(
+            fs,
+            result,
+            [
+                {"path": "foo", "isdir": False},
+                {"path": "subdir/bar", "isdir": False},
+            ],
+        )
+
+    def test_nonexistent(self, cloud):
+        fs = cloud.fs
+        fs_path = fs.path.join(cloud.fs_path, "nonexistent")
+        with pytest.raises(URLMissingError):
+            _ls_url(fs, fs_path)
diff --git a/tests/func/test_ls_url.py b/tests/func/test_ls_url.py
index 797646675..cd4dbbdb2 100644
--- a/tests/func/test_ls_url.py
+++ b/tests/func/test_ls_url.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import pytest
 
 from dvc.exceptions import URLMissingError
 from dvc.repo import Repo
+from dvc.testing.workspace_tests import TestLsUrl as _TestLsUrl
 
 
 def match_files(entries, expected):
@@ -49,3 +50,7 @@ def test_recursive(tmp_dir):
 def test_nonexistent(tmp_dir):
     with pytest.raises(URLMissingError):
         Repo.ls_url("nonexistent")
+
+
+class TestLsUrl(_TestLsUrl):
+    pass