diff --git a/scripts/pr-lib/push.sh b/scripts/pr-lib/push.sh
index 3387eeddfe5e..04f719424c62 100644
--- a/scripts/pr-lib/push.sh
+++ b/scripts/pr-lib/push.sh
@@ -175,26 +175,6 @@ GRAPHQL
   printf '%s\n' "$new_oid"
 }
 
-resolve_head_push_url_https() {
-  # shellcheck disable=SC1091
-  source .local/pr-meta.env
-
-  if [ -n "${PR_HEAD_OWNER:-}" ] && [ -n "${PR_HEAD_REPO_NAME:-}" ]; then
-    printf 'https://github.com/%s/%s.git\n' "$PR_HEAD_OWNER" "$PR_HEAD_REPO_NAME"
-    return 0
-  fi
-
-  if [ -n "${PR_HEAD_REPO_URL:-}" ] && [ "$PR_HEAD_REPO_URL" != "null" ]; then
-    case "$PR_HEAD_REPO_URL" in
-      *.git) printf '%s\n' "$PR_HEAD_REPO_URL" ;;
-      *) printf '%s.git\n' "$PR_HEAD_REPO_URL" ;;
-    esac
-    return 0
-  fi
-
-  return 1
-}
-
 verify_pr_head_branch_matches_expected() {
   local pr="$1"
   local expected_head="$2"
@@ -228,17 +208,8 @@ resolve_prhead_remote_sha() {
   local remote_sha
   remote_sha=$(git ls-remote "$PRHEAD_REMOTE_URL" "refs/heads/$pr_head" 2>/dev/null | awk '{print $1}' || true)
   if [ -z "$remote_sha" ]; then
-    local https_url
-    https_url=$(resolve_head_push_url_https 2>/dev/null) || true
-    if [ -n "$https_url" ] && [ "$https_url" != "$PRHEAD_REMOTE_URL" ]; then
-      echo "SSH remote failed; falling back to HTTPS..." >&2
-      PRHEAD_REMOTE_URL="$https_url"
-      remote_sha=$(git ls-remote "$PRHEAD_REMOTE_URL" "refs/heads/$pr_head" 2>/dev/null | awk '{print $1}' || true)
-    fi
-    if [ -z "$remote_sha" ]; then
-      echo "Remote branch refs/heads/$pr_head not found on prhead" >&2
-      exit 1
-    fi
+    echo "Remote branch refs/heads/$pr_head not found on prhead" >&2
+    exit 1
   fi
 
   PRHEAD_REMOTE_SHA="$remote_sha"
diff --git a/test/scripts/pr-prepare-gates.test.ts b/test/scripts/pr-prepare-gates.test.ts
index a626c6b3416d..53e73b82a294 100644
--- a/test/scripts/pr-prepare-gates.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/pr-prepare-gates.test.ts
@@ -792,7 +792,7 @@ describe("GraphQL fork publication", () => {
 });
 
 describe("fork publication transport", () => {
-  it("keeps the PR push URL process-local", () => {
+  it("keeps the PR push URL process-local and reports a missing branch", () => {
     const { repoDir } = makeRetryRepo();
     const result = runGatesBash(
       [
@@ -801,23 +801,9 @@ describe("fork publication transport", () => {
         "setup_prhead_remote",
         'test "$PRHEAD_REMOTE_URL" = https://github.com/contributor/repo.git',
         "test ! -e .local/git-called",
-      ].join("\n"),
-      { cwd: repoDir, sourcePush: true },
-    );
-
-    expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0);
-  });
-
-  it("preserves an HTTPS fallback for the later push", () => {
-    const { repoDir } = makeRetryRepo();
-    const result = runGatesBash(
-      [
-        "PRHEAD_REMOTE_URL=ssh://git@example.test/contributor/repo.git",
-        "resolve_head_push_url_https() { printf '%s\\n' https://github.com/contributor/repo.git; }",
-        'git() { if [ "$1" = ls-remote ] && [ "$2" = https://github.com/contributor/repo.git ]; then printf \'hosted\\trefs/heads/topic\\n\'; fi; }',
-        "resolve_prhead_remote_sha topic",
-        'test "$PRHEAD_REMOTE_URL" = https://github.com/contributor/repo.git',
-        'test "$PRHEAD_REMOTE_SHA" = hosted',
+        "if remote_error=$(resolve_prhead_remote_sha topic 2>&1); then exit 97; fi",
+        'test "$remote_error" = "Remote branch refs/heads/topic not found on prhead"',
+        "test -e .local/git-called",
       ].join("\n"),
       { cwd: repoDir, sourcePush: true },
     );