diff --git a/.changeset/olive-glasses-approve.md b/.changeset/olive-glasses-approve.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e74b7ef485
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/olive-glasses-approve.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/backend-common': patch
+---
+
+Export FetchUrlReader to facilitate more flexible configuration of the backend.
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/api-report.md b/packages/backend-common/api-report.md
index 9b963f3fc9..4ed9bb1514 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/api-report.md
+++ b/packages/backend-common/api-report.md
@@ -234,6 +234,21 @@ export type ErrorHandlerOptions = {
   logClientErrors?: boolean;
 };
 
+// @public
+export class FetchUrlReader implements UrlReader {
+  static factory: ReaderFactory;
+  // (undocumented)
+  read(url: string): Promise<Buffer>;
+  // (undocumented)
+  readTree(): Promise<ReadTreeResponse>;
+  // (undocumented)
+  readUrl(url: string, options?: ReadUrlOptions): Promise<ReadUrlResponse>;
+  // (undocumented)
+  search(): Promise<SearchResponse>;
+  // (undocumented)
+  toString(): string;
+}
+
 // @public
 export type FromReadableArrayOptions = Array<{
   data: Readable;
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/index.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/index.ts
index 2c3394e4fc..9c29bc93fe 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/index.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/index.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export { BitbucketUrlReader } from './BitbucketUrlReader';
 export { GithubUrlReader } from './GithubUrlReader';
 export { GitlabUrlReader } from './GitlabUrlReader';
 export { AwsS3UrlReader } from './AwsS3UrlReader';
+export { FetchUrlReader } from './FetchUrlReader';
 export type {
   FromReadableArrayOptions,
   ReaderFactory,