diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.test.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.test.ts
index 8bf0328432..caf82f2f9e 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.test.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.test.ts
@@ -601,12 +601,6 @@ describe('GitlabUrlReader', () => {
         'https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/12345/jobs/artifacts/branch/raw/my/path/to/file.yaml?job=myJob',
       );
     });
-    it('should pass API urls naively', async () => {
-      const apiUrl = 'https://gitlab.com/api/v4/my/api/path';
-      await expect(
-        (gitlabProcessor as any).getGitlabFetchUrl(apiUrl)
-      ).resolves.toEqual(apiUrl,);
-    });
     it('should fail on unfamiliar or non-Gitlab urls', async () => {
       await expect(
         (gitlabProcessor as any).getGitlabFetchUrl(
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.ts
index 3455de6f20..f54e045857 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.ts
@@ -258,10 +258,6 @@ export class GitlabUrlReader implements UrlReader {
   }
 
   private async getGitlabFetchUrl(target: string): Promise<string> {
-    // If the target is a raw API url then trust that no parsing is needed
-    if (target.includes('/api/v4/')) {
-      return target;
-    }
     // If the target is for a job artifact then go down that path
     if (target.includes('/-/jobs/artifacts/')) {
       return this.getGitlabArtifactFetchUrl(target).then(value =>