diff --git a/api/catalog/api/views/image_views.py b/api/catalog/api/views/image_views.py
index 05389b53270..eeeacabbd8a 100644
--- a/api/catalog/api/views/image_views.py
+++ b/api/catalog/api/views/image_views.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import io
-import re
 import struct
 
 from django.conf import settings
@@ -107,17 +106,7 @@ def oembed(self, request, *_, **__):
     )
     def thumbnail(self, request, *_, **__):
         image = self.get_object()
-
-        image_url = image.url
-        if not image_url:
-            raise NotFound("Could not find image.", 404)
-
-        # Hotfix to use scaled down version of the image from SMK
-        # TODO Remove when this issue is addressed:
-        # TODO https://github.com/WordPress/openverse-catalog/issues/698
-        if "iip.smk.dk" in image_url:
-            width = settings.THUMBNAIL_WIDTH_PX
-            image_url = re.sub(r"!\d+,", f"!{width},", image_url)
+        image_url = image.thumbnail or image.url
 
         return super().thumbnail(image_url, request)
 
diff --git a/api/test/unit/views/image_views_test.py b/api/test/unit/views/image_views_test.py
index c463532d6ef..b6795475ac6 100644
--- a/api/test/unit/views/image_views_test.py
+++ b/api/test/unit/views/image_views_test.py
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from pathlib import Path
 from test.factory.models.image import ImageFactory
+from unittest.mock import ANY, patch
+
+from django.http import HttpResponse
 
 import pytest
 from requests import Request, Response
@@ -56,3 +59,21 @@ def test_oembed_sends_ua_header(api_client, requests):
     assert len(requests.requests) > 0
     for r in requests.requests:
         assert r.headers == ImageViewSet.OEMBED_HEADERS
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "has_thumbnail, expected_thumb_url",
+    [(True, "http://example.com/thumb.jpg"), (False, "http://example.com/image.jpg")],
+)
+def test_thumbnail_uses_upstream_thumb(api_client, has_thumbnail, expected_thumb_url):
+    thumb_url = "http://example.com/thumb.jpg" if has_thumbnail else None
+    image = ImageFactory.create(
+        url="http://example.com/image.jpg",
+        thumbnail=thumb_url,
+    )
+    with patch("catalog.api.views.media_views.MediaViewSet.thumbnail") as thumb_call:
+        mock_response = HttpResponse("mock_response")
+        thumb_call.return_value = mock_response
+        api_client.get(f"/v1/images/{image.identifier}/thumb/")
+    thumb_call.assert_called_once_with(expected_thumb_url, ANY)