diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a1b7599d741..c8b8fa1aaaf 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ Note that this project **does not** adhere to [Semantic Versioning](https://semv
 - We changed to syntax for the websearch to the one of the main search bar. [#13607](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/issues/13607)
 - We improved the for the web search tab in the preferences dialog [#13791](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/pull/13791)
 - We improved the event viewer for debugging [#13783](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/pull/13783).
+- We improved "REDACTED" replacement of API key value in web fetcher search URL [#13796](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/issues/13796)
 
 ### Fixed
 
diff --git a/jablib/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/importer/FetcherException.java b/jablib/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/importer/FetcherException.java
index 0bb693449fd..f5c77333fb4 100644
--- a/jablib/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/importer/FetcherException.java
+++ b/jablib/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/importer/FetcherException.java
@@ -14,8 +14,9 @@
 
 public class FetcherException extends JabRefException {
     private static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(FetcherException.class);
-    private static final Pattern API_KEY_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("(?i)(api|key|api[-_]?key)=[^&]*");
-    private static String REDACTED_STRING = "[REDACTED]";
+    private static final String API_KEY_PARAM_NAME = "apiKeyParamName";
+    private static final Pattern API_KEY_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("(?i)(?<" + API_KEY_PARAM_NAME + ">api|key|api[-_]?key)=[^&]*");
+    private static final String REDACTED_STRING = "[REDACTED]";
 
     private final String url;
     private final SimpleHttpResponse httpResponse;
@@ -85,12 +86,12 @@ public String getLocalizedMessage() {
         }
     }
 
-    private String getRedactedUrl() {
-        return API_KEY_PATTERN.matcher(url).replaceAll(REDACTED_STRING);
+    String getRedactedUrl() {
+        return getRedactedUrl(url);
     }
 
-    public static Object getRedactedUrl(URL source) {
-        return API_KEY_PATTERN.matcher(source.toString()).replaceAll(REDACTED_STRING);
+    public static String getRedactedUrl(String source) {
+        return API_KEY_PATTERN.matcher(source).replaceAll("${" + API_KEY_PARAM_NAME + "}=" + REDACTED_STRING);
     }
 
     private String getPrefix() {
diff --git a/jablib/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/net/URLDownload.java b/jablib/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/net/URLDownload.java
index c7842d293ef..7eff72b29ef 100644
--- a/jablib/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/net/URLDownload.java
+++ b/jablib/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/net/URLDownload.java
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ public URLConnection openConnection() throws FetcherException {
             } else if (status >= 400) {
                 // in case of an error, propagate the error message
                 SimpleHttpResponse httpResponse = new SimpleHttpResponse(httpURLConnection);
-                LOGGER.info("{}: {}", FetcherException.getRedactedUrl(this.source), httpResponse);
+                LOGGER.info("{}: {}", FetcherException.getRedactedUrl(this.source.toString()), httpResponse);
                 if (status < 500) {
                     throw new FetcherClientException(this.source, httpResponse);
                 } else {
diff --git a/jablib/src/test/java/org/jabref/logic/importer/FetcherExceptionTest.java b/jablib/src/test/java/org/jabref/logic/importer/FetcherExceptionTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b35cfa3502a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jablib/src/test/java/org/jabref/logic/importer/FetcherExceptionTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package org.jabref.logic.importer;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.CsvSource;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+
+class FetcherExceptionTest {
+
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @CsvSource({
+            "https://api.springernature.com/meta/v1/json?q=anything&api_key=abc&s=1&p=20, https://api.springernature.com/meta/v1/json?q=anything&api_key=[REDACTED]&s=1&p=20",
+            "https://api.springernature.com/meta/v1/json?q=anything&API_KEY=abc, https://api.springernature.com/meta/v1/json?q=anything&API_KEY=[REDACTED]",
+            "https://api.springernature.com/meta/v1/json?q=anything&apikey=abc123ABC, https://api.springernature.com/meta/v1/json?q=anything&apikey=[REDACTED]",
+            "https://api.springernature.com/meta/v1/json?q=anything, https://api.springernature.com/meta/v1/json?q=anything",
+            "https://api.springernature.com/meta/v1/json, https://api.springernature.com/meta/v1/json"
+    })
+    void getRedactedUrl(String url, String redactedUrl) {
+        assertEquals(redactedUrl, FetcherException.getRedactedUrl(url));
+    }
+}