diff --git a/api/src/main/java/io/grpc/FeatureFlags.java b/api/src/main/java/io/grpc/FeatureFlags.java
index 0e414ed7b31..36fec1b9a59 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/io/grpc/FeatureFlags.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/io/grpc/FeatureFlags.java
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 import com.google.common.base.Strings;
 
 class FeatureFlags {
-  private static boolean enableRfc3986Uris = getFlag("GRPC_ENABLE_RFC3986_URIS", false);
+  private static boolean enableRfc3986Uris = getFlag("GRPC_ENABLE_RFC3986_URIS", true);
 
   /** Whether to parse targets as RFC 3986 URIs (true), or use {@link java.net.URI} (false). */
   @VisibleForTesting
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/io/grpc/Grpc.java b/api/src/main/java/io/grpc/Grpc.java
index a45c613fd18..ad1de210854 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/io/grpc/Grpc.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/io/grpc/Grpc.java
@@ -73,11 +73,10 @@ private Grpc() {
   public @interface TransportAttr {}
 
   /**
-   * Creates a channel builder with a target string and credentials. The target can be either a
-   * valid {@link NameResolver}-compliant URI, or an authority string.
+   * Creates a channel builder with a target string and credentials. The target can be either an RFC
+   * 3986 URI, or an authority string.
    *
-   * <p>A {@code NameResolver}-compliant URI is an absolute hierarchical URI as defined by {@link
-   * java.net.URI}. Example URIs:
+   * <p>Example URIs:
    * <ul>
    *   <li>{@code "dns:///foo.googleapis.com:8080"}</li>
    *   <li>{@code "dns:///foo.googleapis.com"}</li>
@@ -85,13 +84,13 @@ private Grpc() {
    *   <li>{@code "dns://8.8.8.8/foo.googleapis.com:8080"}</li>
    *   <li>{@code "dns://8.8.8.8/foo.googleapis.com"}</li>
    *   <li>{@code "zookeeper://zk.example.com:9900/example_service"}</li>
+   *   <li>{@code "intent:#Intent;package=com.some.app;action=a;category=c;end;"}</li>
    * </ul>
    *
-   * <p>An authority string will be converted to a {@code NameResolver}-compliant URI, which has
-   * the scheme from the name resolver with the highest priority (e.g. {@code "dns"}),
-   * no authority, and the original authority string as its path after properly escaped.
-   * We recommend libraries to specify the schema explicitly if it is known, since libraries cannot
-   * know which NameResolver will be default during runtime.
+   * <p>An authority string will be converted to a URI having the scheme of the name resolver with
+   * the highest priority (e.g. {@code "dns"}), the empty string as the authority, and
+   * {@code target} as its absolute path. We recommend libraries specify {@code target} as a URI
+   * instead since they cannot know which NameResolver will be default at runtime.
    * Example authority strings:
    * <ul>
    *   <li>{@code "localhost"}</li>
@@ -102,6 +101,12 @@ private Grpc() {
    *   <li>{@code "[2001:db8:85a3:8d3:1319:8a2e:370:7348]"}</li>
    *   <li>{@code "[2001:db8:85a3:8d3:1319:8a2e:370:7348]:443"}</li>
    * </ul>
+   *
+   * <p>The URI form of {@code target} is preferred because it is less ambiguous. For example, the
+   * target string {@code foo:8080} is a valid authority string with host {@code foo} and port
+   * {@code 8080} but it is also a valid RFC 3986 URI with scheme {@code foo} and path {@code 8080}.
+   * gRPC prioritizes the URI form, which means {@code foo:8080} will be treated as a URI with
+   * scheme {@code foo}. Using {@code dns:///foo:8080} avoids this ambiguity.
    */
   public static ManagedChannelBuilder<?> newChannelBuilder(
       String target, ChannelCredentials creds) {
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/io/grpc/ManagedChannelBuilder.java b/api/src/main/java/io/grpc/ManagedChannelBuilder.java
index 3f370ab3003..7681c8f7b62 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/io/grpc/ManagedChannelBuilder.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/io/grpc/ManagedChannelBuilder.java
@@ -45,11 +45,10 @@ public static ManagedChannelBuilder<?> forAddress(String name, int port) {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Creates a channel with a target string, which can be either a valid {@link
-   * NameResolver}-compliant URI, or an authority string.
+   * Creates a channel with a target string, which can be either an RFC 3986 URI, or an authority
+   * string.
    *
-   * <p>A {@code NameResolver}-compliant URI is an absolute hierarchical URI as defined by {@link
-   * java.net.URI}. Example URIs:
+   * <p>Example URIs:
    * <ul>
    *   <li>{@code "dns:///foo.googleapis.com:8080"}</li>
    *   <li>{@code "dns:///foo.googleapis.com"}</li>
@@ -57,13 +56,13 @@ public static ManagedChannelBuilder<?> forAddress(String name, int port) {
    *   <li>{@code "dns://8.8.8.8/foo.googleapis.com:8080"}</li>
    *   <li>{@code "dns://8.8.8.8/foo.googleapis.com"}</li>
    *   <li>{@code "zookeeper://zk.example.com:9900/example_service"}</li>
+   *   <li>{@code "intent:#Intent;package=com.some.app;action=a;category=c;end;"}</li>
    * </ul>
    *
-   * <p>An authority string will be converted to a {@code NameResolver}-compliant URI, which has
-   * the scheme from the name resolver with the highest priority (e.g. {@code "dns"}),
-   * no authority, and the original authority string as its path after properly escaped.
-   * We recommend libraries to specify the schema explicitly if it is known, since libraries cannot
-   * know which NameResolver will be default during runtime.
+   * <p>An authority string will be converted to a URI having the scheme of the name resolver with
+   * the highest priority (e.g. {@code "dns"}), the empty string as the authority, and
+   * {@code target} as its absolute path. We recommend libraries specify {@code target} as a URI
+   * instead since they cannot know which NameResolver will be default at runtime.
    * Example authority strings:
    * <ul>
    *   <li>{@code "localhost"}</li>
@@ -75,6 +74,12 @@ public static ManagedChannelBuilder<?> forAddress(String name, int port) {
    *   <li>{@code "[2001:db8:85a3:8d3:1319:8a2e:370:7348]:443"}</li>
    * </ul>
    *
+   * <p>The URI form of {@code target} is preferred because it is less ambiguous. For example, the
+   * target string {@code foo:8080} is a valid authority string with host {@code foo} and port
+   * {@code 8080} but it is also a valid RFC 3986 URI with scheme {@code foo} and path {@code 8080}.
+   * gRPC prioritizes the URI form, which means {@code foo:8080} will be treated as a URI with
+   * scheme {@code foo}. Using {@code dns:///foo:8080} avoids this ambiguity.
+   *
    * <p>Note that there is an open JDK bug on {@link java.net.URI} class parsing an ipv6 scope ID:
    * bugs.openjdk.org/browse/JDK-8199396. This method is exposed to this bug. If you experience an
    * issue, a work-around is to convert the scope ID to its numeric form (e.g. by using