diff --git a/scanner/gitlab.go b/scanner/gitlab.go
index 7a4016b..ccef845 100644
--- a/scanner/gitlab.go
+++ b/scanner/gitlab.go
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@ func (scanner GitLabScanner) List(
 ) error {
 	log.Debugf("GitLabScanner.List(%s)", url.String())
 
-	apiURL, _ := url.Parse("/api/v4")
+	apiURL := gitlabAPIURL(url)
 
-	git, err := gitlab.NewClient(os.Getenv("GITLAB_TOKEN"), gitlab.WithBaseURL(apiURL.String()))
+	git, err := gitlab.NewClient(os.Getenv("GITLAB_TOKEN"), gitlab.WithBaseURL(apiURL))
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -80,9 +80,9 @@ func (scanner GitLabScanner) Scan(
 ) error {
 	log.Debugf("GitLabScanner.Scan(%s)", url.String())
 
-	apiURL, _ := url.Parse("/api/v4")
+	apiURL := gitlabAPIURL(url)
 
-	git, err := gitlab.NewClient(os.Getenv("GITLAB_TOKEN"), gitlab.WithBaseURL(apiURL.String()))
+	git, err := gitlab.NewClient(os.Getenv("GITLAB_TOKEN"), gitlab.WithBaseURL(apiURL))
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -97,6 +97,14 @@ func (scanner GitLabScanner) Scan(
 	return addProject(&url, *prj, publisher, repositories)
 }
 
+func gitlabAPIURL(gitlabURL url.URL) string {
+	return (&url.URL{
+		Scheme: gitlabURL.Scheme,
+		Host:   gitlabURL.Host,
+		Path:   "/api/v4",
+	}).String()
+}
+
 // isGitlabGroup returns true if the API URL points to a group.
 func isGitlabGroup(gitlabURL url.URL) bool {
 	return (
diff --git a/scanner/gitlab_test.go b/scanner/gitlab_test.go
index 72636d3..f7356e0 100644
--- a/scanner/gitlab_test.go
+++ b/scanner/gitlab_test.go
@@ -1,13 +1,62 @@
 package scanner
 
 import (
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
 	"net/url"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/italia/publiccode-crawler/v4/common"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
+func TestGitLabScannerUsesTargetInstanceAPI(t *testing.T) {
+	requests := make([]string, 0, 4)
+	expectedHost := ""
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		require.Equal(t, expectedHost, r.Host)
+		assert.True(t, strings.HasPrefix(r.URL.Path, "/api/v4/"), r.URL.Path)
+		requests = append(requests, r.URL.EscapedPath())
+
+		switch r.URL.EscapedPath() {
+		case "/api/v4/groups/example":
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"id": 1}`))
+		case "/api/v4/groups/1/projects", "/api/v4/groups/1/descendant_groups":
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`[]`))
+		case "/api/v4/projects/example%2Fproject":
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{}`))
+		default:
+			t.Errorf("unexpected GitLab API request: %s", r.URL.EscapedPath())
+			http.NotFound(w, r)
+		}
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+	expectedHost = strings.TrimPrefix(server.URL, "http://")
+
+	instanceURL, err := url.Parse(server.URL)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	scanner := NewGitLabScanner()
+	repositories := make(chan common.Repository)
+
+	groupURL := *instanceURL
+	groupURL.Path = "/example"
+	require.NoError(t, scanner.List(groupURL, common.Publisher{}, repositories))
+
+	projectURL := *instanceURL
+	projectURL.Path = "/example/project"
+	require.NoError(t, scanner.Scan(projectURL, common.Publisher{}, repositories))
+
+	assert.Equal(t, []string{
+		"/api/v4/groups/example",
+		"/api/v4/groups/1/projects",
+		"/api/v4/groups/1/descendant_groups",
+		"/api/v4/projects/example%2Fproject",
+	}, requests)
+}
+
 func TestIsGitlabGroup(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		rawURL string