diff --git a/checker/client.go b/checker/client.go
index 075d67dc5528..8d59641eb4bd 100644
--- a/checker/client.go
+++ b/checker/client.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/ossf/scorecard/v4/clients"
 	ghrepo "github.com/ossf/scorecard/v4/clients/githubrepo"
@@ -56,15 +55,18 @@ func GetClients(ctx context.Context, repoURI, localURI string, logger *log.Logge
 
 	_, experimental := os.LookupEnv("SCORECARD_EXPERIMENTAL")
 
-	if strings.Contains(repoURI, "gitlab.") && experimental {
-		repo, makeRepoError = glrepo.MakeGitlabRepo(repoURI)
-		if makeRepoError != nil {
-			return repo,
-				nil,
-				nil,
-				nil,
-				nil,
-				fmt.Errorf("getting local directory client: %w", makeRepoError)
+	//nolint:nestif
+	if experimental {
+		if isGl := glrepo.DetectGitLab(repoURI); isGl {
+			repo, makeRepoError = glrepo.MakeGitlabRepo(repoURI)
+			if makeRepoError != nil {
+				return repo,
+					nil,
+					nil,
+					nil,
+					nil,
+					fmt.Errorf("getting local directory client: %w", makeRepoError)
+			}
 		}
 	} else {
 		repo, makeRepoError = ghrepo.MakeGithubRepo(repoURI)
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ func GetClients(ctx context.Context, repoURI, localURI string, logger *log.Logge
 		retErr = fmt.Errorf("getting OSS-Fuzz repo client: %w", errOssFuzz)
 	}
 	// TODO(repo): Should we be handling the OSS-Fuzz client error like this?
-	if strings.Contains(repoURI, "gitlab.") && experimental {
+	if glrepo.DetectGitLab(repoURI) && experimental {
 		glClient, err := glrepo.CreateGitlabClientWithToken(ctx, os.Getenv("GITLAB_AUTH_TOKEN"), repo)
 		if err != nil {
 			return repo,
diff --git a/checks/raw/ci_tests.go b/checks/raw/ci_tests.go
index b62477ca66e2..bbc77f77386f 100644
--- a/checks/raw/ci_tests.go
+++ b/checks/raw/ci_tests.go
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@ func CITests(c clients.RepoClient) (checker.CITestData, error) {
 				fmt.Sprintf("Client.Repositories.ListCheckRunsForRef: %v", err),
 			)
 		}
-		fmt.Printf("crs: %v\n", crs)
 
 		runs[pr.HeadSHA] = append(runs[pr.HeadSHA], crs...)
 
diff --git a/clients/gitlabrepo/client.go b/clients/gitlabrepo/client.go
index df81f26d8227..b8f4164359d2 100644
--- a/clients/gitlabrepo/client.go
+++ b/clients/gitlabrepo/client.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
+	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/xanzy/go-gitlab"
@@ -280,3 +281,28 @@ func CreateGitlabClientWithToken(ctx context.Context, token string, repo clients
 func CreateOssFuzzRepoClient(ctx context.Context, logger *log.Logger) (clients.RepoClient, error) {
 	return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w, oss fuzz currently only supported for github repos", clients.ErrUnsupportedFeature)
 }
+
+// DetectGitLab: check whether the repoURI is a GitLab URI
+// Makes HTTP request to GitLab API.
+func DetectGitLab(repoURI string) bool {
+	var repo repoURL
+	if err := repo.parse(repoURI); err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	if err := repo.IsValid(); err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(repo.host, "gitlab.") {
+		return true
+	}
+	client, err := gitlab.NewClient("", gitlab.WithBaseURL(repo.Host()))
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	_, r, err := client.Projects.ListProjects(&gitlab.ListProjectsOptions{})
+	if r.StatusCode != 200 || err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	return true
+}