diff --git a/swh/web/api/tests/views/test_origin.py b/swh/web/api/tests/views/test_origin.py
--- a/swh/web/api/tests/views/test_origin.py
+++ b/swh/web/api/tests/views/test_origin.py
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
-# Copyright (C) 2015-2021  The Software Heritage developers
+# Copyright (C) 2015-2022  The Software Heritage developers
 # See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
 # License: GNU Affero General Public License version 3, or any later version
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
 
 from datetime import timedelta
+import itertools
 import json
 
 from hypothesis import given
@@ -763,6 +764,38 @@
     assert expected_data == rv.data
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "backend,fields",
+    itertools.product(["swh-search", "swh-indexer-storage"], ["url", "url,foobar"]),
+)
+def test_api_origin_metadata_search_url_only(api_client, mocker, backend, fields):
+    """Checks that idx_storage.origin_intrinsic_metadata_get is not called when
+    its results are not needed"""
+    mocker.patch(
+        "swh.web.utils.archive.idx_storage.origin_intrinsic_metadata_get",
+        side_effect=AssertionError("origin_intrinsic_metadata_get was called"),
+    )
+
+    mock_config = mocker.patch("swh.web.utils.archive.config")
+    mock_config.get_config.return_value = {
+        "search_config": {"metadata_backend": backend}
+    }
+
+    url = reverse(
+        "api-1-origin-metadata-search",
+        query_params={"fulltext": ORIGIN_METADATA_VALUE, "fields": fields},
+    )
+    rv = check_api_get_responses(api_client, url, status_code=200)
+    rv.data = sorted(rv.data, key=lambda d: d["url"])
+
+    expected_data = sorted(
+        [{"url": origin_url} for origin_url in sorted(ORIGIN_MASTER_REVISION.keys())],
+        key=lambda d: d["url"],
+    )
+
+    assert expected_data == rv.data
+
+
 def test_api_origin_metadata_search_limit(api_client, mocker):
     mock_idx_storage = mocker.patch("swh.web.utils.archive.idx_storage")
     oimsft = mock_idx_storage.origin_intrinsic_metadata_search_fulltext
diff --git a/swh/web/api/views/origin.py b/swh/web/api/views/origin.py
--- a/swh/web/api/views/origin.py
+++ b/swh/web/api/views/origin.py
@@ -285,12 +285,19 @@
     """
     fulltext = request.query_params.get("fulltext", None)
     limit = min(int(request.query_params.get("limit", "70")), 100)
+    fields = request.query_params.get("fields")
     if not fulltext:
         content = '"fulltext" must be provided and non-empty.'
         raise BadInputExc(content)
 
+    return_metadata = not fields or "metadata" in fields
+
     results = api_lookup(
-        archive.search_origin_metadata, fulltext, limit, request=request
+        archive.search_origin_metadata,
+        fulltext,
+        limit,
+        return_metadata,
+        request=request,
     )
 
     return {
diff --git a/swh/web/utils/archive.py b/swh/web/utils/archive.py
--- a/swh/web/utils/archive.py
+++ b/swh/web/utils/archive.py
@@ -336,13 +336,14 @@
 
 
 def search_origin_metadata(
-    fulltext: str, limit: int = 50
+    fulltext: str, limit: int = 50, return_metadata: bool = True
 ) -> Iterable[OriginMetadataInfo]:
     """Search for origins whose metadata match a provided string pattern.
 
     Args:
         fulltext: the string pattern to search for in origin metadata
         limit: the maximum number of found origins to return
+        return_metadata: if false, will only return the origin URL
 
     Returns:
         Iterable of origin metadata information for existing origins
@@ -358,9 +359,14 @@
             limit=limit,
         )
         origin_urls = [r["url"] for r in page_result.results]
-        metadata = {
-            r.id: r for r in idx_storage.origin_intrinsic_metadata_get(origin_urls)
-        }
+
+        if return_metadata:
+            metadata = {
+                r.id: r for r in idx_storage.origin_intrinsic_metadata_get(origin_urls)
+            }
+        else:
+            # Skip query to swh-indexer if we are not interested in the results
+            metadata = {}
 
         # Results from swh-search are not guaranteed to be in
         # idx_storage.origin_intrinsic_metadata (typically when they come from
@@ -392,6 +398,8 @@
             if field in match:
                 match[field] = hashutil.hash_to_hex(match[field])
         del match["id"]
+        if not return_metadata:
+            match.pop("metadata", None)
         results.append(OriginMetadataInfo(url=origin.url, metadata=match))
 
     return results