diff --git a/src/crawlee/_request.py b/src/crawlee/_request.py
index 0d9598db8b..326e8ddce9 100644
--- a/src/crawlee/_request.py
+++ b/src/crawlee/_request.py
@@ -310,8 +310,8 @@ def from_url(
         if always_enqueue:
             unique_key = f'{crypto_random_object_id()}|{unique_key}'
 
-        user_data_dict = kwargs.pop('user_data', {}) or {}
-        crawlee_data_dict = user_data_dict.get('__crawlee', {})
+        user_data_dict = dict(kwargs.pop('user_data', {}) or {})
+        crawlee_data_dict = dict(user_data_dict.get('__crawlee') or {})
 
         if max_retries is not None:
             crawlee_data_dict['maxRetries'] = max_retries
@@ -319,10 +319,8 @@ def from_url(
         if enqueue_strategy is not None:
             crawlee_data_dict['enqueueStrategy'] = enqueue_strategy
 
-        crawlee_data = CrawleeRequestData(**crawlee_data_dict)
-
-        if crawlee_data:
-            user_data_dict['__crawlee'] = crawlee_data
+        if crawlee_data_dict:
+            user_data_dict['__crawlee'] = CrawleeRequestData(**crawlee_data_dict)
 
         request = cls(
             url=url,
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_request.py b/tests/unit/test_request.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..615c1096b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_request.py
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from crawlee import Request
+
+
+def test_from_url_does_not_mutate_caller_user_data() -> None:
+    """Verify `from_url` leaves the caller's `user_data` dict and its nested `__crawlee` block untouched."""
+    user_data = {'__crawlee': {'crawlDepth': 2}}
+    original_crawlee_data = user_data['__crawlee']
+
+    Request.from_url('https://example.com', user_data=user_data, enqueue_strategy='same-domain')
+
+    assert user_data['__crawlee'] is original_crawlee_data
+    assert user_data['__crawlee'] == {'crawlDepth': 2}
+
+
+def test_from_url_can_reuse_same_user_data_dict() -> None:
+    """Verify the same `user_data` dict object can be passed to `from_url` twice without raising."""
+    user_data = {'__crawlee': {'crawlDepth': 2}}
+
+    # The first call used to replace the nested `__crawlee` value with a model that rejects item assignment.
+    Request.from_url('https://example.com', user_data=user_data, enqueue_strategy='same-domain')
+    Request.from_url('https://example.com', user_data=user_data, enqueue_strategy='same-domain')
+
+
+def test_from_url_omits_crawlee_data_when_empty() -> None:
+    """Verify `from_url` does not write a `__crawlee` block when no crawlee-specific options are supplied."""
+    request = Request.from_url('https://example.com')
+
+    assert '__crawlee' not in request.model_dump()['user_data']
+
+
+def test_from_url_keeps_crawlee_data_when_supplied() -> None:
+    """Verify `from_url` serializes supplied `max_retries` and `enqueue_strategy` into the `__crawlee` block."""
+    request = Request.from_url('https://example.com', max_retries=3, enqueue_strategy='same-hostname')
+
+    assert request.model_dump()['user_data']['__crawlee'] == {
+        'maxRetries': 3,
+        'enqueueStrategy': 'same-hostname',
+    }
+    assert request.max_retries == 3
+    assert request.enqueue_strategy == 'same-hostname'