diff --git a/lib/helpers/verifyApiKey.ts b/lib/helpers/verifyApiKey.ts
index 6026106231..cf5c4a8472 100644
--- a/lib/helpers/verifyApiKey.ts
+++ b/lib/helpers/verifyApiKey.ts
@@ -23,10 +23,7 @@ export const dateNotInPast = function (date: Date) {
 export const verifyApiKey: NextMiddleware = async (req, res, next) => {
   if (!req.query.apiKey) return res.status(401).json({ message: "No apiKey provided" });
   // We remove the prefix from the user provided api_key. If no env set default to "cal_"
-  let strippedApiKey = `${req.query.apiKey}`.replace(process.env.API_KEY_PREFIX, "");
-  strippedApiKey = strippedApiKey.includes("cal_")
-    ? strippedApiKey.replace("cal_", "")
-    : strippedApiKey;
+  const strippedApiKey = `${req.query.apiKey}`.replace(process.env.API_KEY_PREFIX || "cal_", "");
   // Hash the key again before matching against the database records.
   const hashedKey = hashAPIKey(strippedApiKey);
   // Check if the hashed api key exists in database.