diff --git a/tuw_vre_connector/inveniordm_api.py b/tuw_vre_connector/inveniordm_api.py
index 462fab792cbfd69d0575edffa2efdd5311b334f9..4a65bbdcc209bc305ba14224cee589bf7c3ac0a6 100644
--- a/tuw_vre_connector/inveniordm_api.py
+++ b/tuw_vre_connector/inveniordm_api.py
@@ -28,6 +28,12 @@ class InvenioRDM:
         """InvenioRDM constructor."""
         self.api_token = api_token
         self.url = (url or self.DEFAULT_URL).rstrip("/")
+
+        # Ensure the URL contains /api as the InvenioAPI client
+        # can only fetch JSON
+        if not self.url.endswith("/api"):
+            self.url += "/api"
+
         self.client = InvenioAPI(base_url=self.url, access_token=self.api_token)
 
     def _normalize_pid(self, record_pid: str) -> str: