diff --git a/lib/utils/funding.js b/lib/utils/funding.js
index 2c994e0b6b42..dce40147642c 100644
--- a/lib/utils/funding.js
+++ b/lib/utils/funding.js
@@ -8,12 +8,10 @@ exports.validFundingUrl = validFundingUrl
 // Is the value of a `funding` property of a `package.json`
 // a valid type+url for `npm fund` to display?
 function validFundingUrl (funding) {
-  if (!funding || !funding.url) {
-    return false
-  }
+  if (!funding) return false
 
   try {
-    var parsed = new URL(funding.url)
+    var parsed = new URL(funding.url || funding)
   } catch (error) {
     return false
   }
@@ -62,6 +60,14 @@ function getFundingInfo (idealTree, opts) {
     )
   }
 
+  function retrieveFunding (funding) {
+    return typeof funding === 'string'
+      ? {
+        url: funding
+      }
+      : funding
+  }
+
   function getFundingDependencies (tree) {
     const deps = tree && tree.dependencies
     if (!deps) return empty()
@@ -82,7 +88,7 @@ function getFundingInfo (idealTree, opts) {
       }
 
       if (funding && validFundingUrl(funding)) {
-        fundingItem.funding = funding
+        fundingItem.funding = retrieveFunding(funding)
         length++
       }
 
@@ -134,7 +140,7 @@ function getFundingInfo (idealTree, opts) {
     }
 
     if (idealTree && idealTree.funding) {
-      result.funding = idealTree.funding
+      result.funding = retrieveFunding(idealTree.funding)
     }
 
     result.dependencies =
diff --git a/test/tap/fund.js b/test/tap/fund.js
index cc66bea51a05..364dc1b6f817 100644
--- a/test/tap/fund.js
+++ b/test/tap/fund.js
@@ -92,9 +92,7 @@ const fixture = new Tacks(Dir({
             node_modules: Dir({
               'sub-bar': getFixturePackage({
                 name: 'sub-bar',
-                funding: {
-                  url: 'https://example.com/sponsor'
-                }
+                funding: 'https://example.com/sponsor'
               })
             })
           })
diff --git a/test/tap/utils.funding.js b/test/tap/utils.funding.js
index 60a7a1e67eb5..51b89e5f8d34 100644
--- a/test/tap/utils.funding.js
+++ b/test/tap/utils.funding.js
@@ -35,6 +35,28 @@ test('single item missing funding', (t) => {
   t.end()
 })
 
+test('funding object missing url', (t) => {
+  t.deepEqual(
+    getFundingInfo({ name: 'project',
+      dependencies: {
+        'single-item': {
+          name: 'single-item',
+          version: '1.0.0',
+          funding: {
+            type: 'Foo'
+          }
+        }
+      }}),
+    {
+      name: 'project',
+      dependencies: {},
+      length: 0
+    },
+    'should return empty list'
+  )
+  t.end()
+})
+
 test('use path if name is missing', (t) => {
   t.deepEqual(
     getFundingInfo({ name: undefined,
@@ -86,6 +108,51 @@ test('single item tree', (t) => {
   t.end()
 })
 
+test('top-level funding info', (t) => {
+  t.deepEqual(
+    getFundingInfo({ name: 'project',
+      funding: 'http://example.com'
+    }),
+    {
+      name: 'project',
+      funding: {
+        url: 'http://example.com'
+      },
+      dependencies: {},
+      length: 0
+    },
+    'should return top-level item with normalized funding info'
+  )
+  t.end()
+})
+
+test('use string shorthand', (t) => {
+  t.deepEqual(
+    getFundingInfo({ name: 'project',
+      dependencies: {
+        'single-item': {
+          name: 'single-item',
+          version: '1.0.0',
+          funding: 'http://example.com'
+        }
+      }}),
+    {
+      name: 'project',
+      dependencies: {
+        'single-item': {
+          version: '1.0.0',
+          funding: {
+            url: 'http://example.com'
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      length: 1
+    },
+    'should return item with normalized funding info'
+  )
+  t.end()
+})
+
 test('duplicate items along the tree', (t) => {
   t.deepEqual(
     getFundingInfo({ name: 'project',