diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/package.json b/extensions/ql-vscode/package.json
index 2af45ba19..650f19780 100644
--- a/extensions/ql-vscode/package.json
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/package.json
@@ -878,6 +878,10 @@
         }
       ],
       "commandPalette": [
+        {
+          "command": "codeQL.authenticateToGitHub",
+          "when": "config.codeQL.canary"
+        },
         {
           "command": "codeQL.runQuery",
           "when": "resourceLangId == ql && resourceExtname == .ql"
diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/src/databaseFetcher.ts b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/databaseFetcher.ts
index a78ba34cd..322d09b3a 100644
--- a/extensions/ql-vscode/src/databaseFetcher.ts
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/databaseFetcher.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { CodeQLCliServer } from './cli';
 import * as fs from 'fs-extra';
 import * as path from 'path';
 import * as Octokit from '@octokit/rest';
+import { retry } from '@octokit/plugin-retry';
 
 import { DatabaseManager, DatabaseItem } from './databases';
 import {
@@ -24,7 +25,6 @@ import { logger } from './logging';
 import { tmpDir } from './helpers';
 import { Credentials } from './authentication';
 import { REPO_REGEX, getErrorMessage } from './pure/helpers-pure';
-import { isCanary } from './config';
 
 /**
  * Prompts a user to fetch a database from a remote location. Database is assumed to be an archive file.
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ export async function promptImportInternetDatabase(
 export async function promptImportGithubDatabase(
   databaseManager: DatabaseManager,
   storagePath: string,
-  credentials: Credentials,
+  credentials: Credentials | undefined,
   progress: ProgressCallback,
   token: CancellationToken,
   cli?: CodeQLCliServer
@@ -101,8 +101,7 @@ export async function promptImportGithubDatabase(
     throw new Error(`Invalid GitHub repository: ${githubRepo}`);
   }
 
-  // Only require authentication if we are running with the canary flag enabled
-  const octokit = await credentials.getOctokit(isCanary());
+  const octokit = credentials ? await credentials.getOctokit(true) : new Octokit.Octokit({ retry });
 
   const result = await convertGithubNwoToDatabaseUrl(githubRepo, octokit, progress);
   if (!result) {
diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/src/databases-ui.ts b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/databases-ui.ts
index cf474bfc5..bea2bc425 100644
--- a/extensions/ql-vscode/src/databases-ui.ts
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/databases-ui.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import {
 import { CancellationToken } from 'vscode';
 import { asyncFilter, getErrorMessage } from './pure/helpers-pure';
 import { Credentials } from './authentication';
+import { isCanary } from './config';
 
 type ThemableIconPath = { light: string; dark: string } | string;
 
@@ -301,7 +302,7 @@ export class DatabaseUI extends DisposableObject {
           progress: ProgressCallback,
           token: CancellationToken
         ) => {
-          const credentials = await this.getCredentials();
+          const credentials = isCanary() ? await this.getCredentials() : undefined;
           await this.handleChooseDatabaseGithub(credentials, progress, token);
         },
         {
@@ -480,7 +481,7 @@ export class DatabaseUI extends DisposableObject {
   };
 
   handleChooseDatabaseGithub = async (
-    credentials: Credentials,
+    credentials: Credentials | undefined,
     progress: ProgressCallback,
     token: CancellationToken
   ): Promise<DatabaseItem | undefined> => {
diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/src/extension.ts b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/extension.ts
index 43109b93b..80c04dbbc 100644
--- a/extensions/ql-vscode/src/extension.ts
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/extension.ts
@@ -970,7 +970,7 @@ async function activateWithInstalledDistribution(
       progress: ProgressCallback,
       token: CancellationToken
     ) => {
-      const credentials = await Credentials.initialize(ctx);
+      const credentials = isCanary() ? await Credentials.initialize(ctx) : undefined;
       await databaseUI.handleChooseDatabaseGithub(credentials, progress, token);
     },
       {