diff --git a/r2/r2/lib/validator/validator.py b/r2/r2/lib/validator/validator.py
index ac5e3c733..7919069ae 100644
--- a/r2/r2/lib/validator/validator.py
+++ b/r2/r2/lib/validator/validator.py
@@ -1795,7 +1795,7 @@ class VDestination(Validator):
 
     def run(self, dest):
         if not dest:
-            dest = request.referer or self.default or "/"
+            dest = self.default or "/"
 
         ld = dest.lower()
         if ld.startswith(('/', 'http://', 'http://')):