diff --git a/plugins/github/src/org/jetbrains/plugins/github/GithubApiUtil.java b/plugins/github/src/org/jetbrains/plugins/github/GithubApiUtil.java
index 63a7e283eeb5..b7695bd99c8b 100644
--- a/plugins/github/src/org/jetbrains/plugins/github/GithubApiUtil.java
+++ b/plugins/github/src/org/jetbrains/plugins/github/GithubApiUtil.java
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ public class GithubApiUtil {
   public static Collection<String> getTokenScopes(@NotNull GithubAuthData auth) throws IOException {
     HttpMethod method = null;
     try {
-      method = doREST(auth, "", null, HttpVerb.GET);
+      method = doREST(auth, "", null, HttpVerb.HEAD);
 
       checkStatusCode(method);