diff --git a/app/controllers/api/v1/timelines/base_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/v1/timelines/base_controller.rb
index 1dba4a5bb21..3ad9e8f416a 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/v1/timelines/base_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/v1/timelines/base_controller.rb
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ class Api::V1::Timelines::BaseController < Api::BaseController
   private
 
   def require_auth?
-    !Setting.timeline_preview
+    !(Setting.timeline_preview_local && Setting.timeline_preview_remote)
   end
 
   def pagination_collection
diff --git a/app/controllers/api/v1/timelines/link_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/v1/timelines/link_controller.rb
index 37ed084f062..0e8c805a649 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/v1/timelines/link_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/v1/timelines/link_controller.rb
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 class Api::V1::Timelines::LinkController < Api::V1::Timelines::BaseController
   before_action -> { authorize_if_got_token! :read, :'read:statuses' }
+  before_action :require_user!, if: :require_auth?
   before_action :set_preview_card
   before_action :set_statuses
 
@@ -17,6 +18,12 @@ class Api::V1::Timelines::LinkController < Api::V1::Timelines::BaseController
 
   private
 
+  # A viewer can only see the link timeline if both timeline_preview_local and
+  # timeline_preview_remote are true, since it includes remote content
+  def require_auth?
+    !(Setting.timeline_preview_local && Setting.timeline_preview_remote)
+  end
+
   def set_preview_card
     @preview_card = PreviewCard.joins(:trend).merge(PreviewCardTrend.allowed).find_by!(url: params[:url])
   end
diff --git a/app/controllers/api/v1/timelines/tag_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/v1/timelines/tag_controller.rb
index 2b097aab0f8..fd956edc840 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/v1/timelines/tag_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/v1/timelines/tag_controller.rb
@@ -14,10 +14,6 @@ class Api::V1::Timelines::TagController < Api::V1::Timelines::BaseController
 
   private
 
-  def require_auth?
-    !Setting.timeline_preview
-  end
-
   def load_tag
     @tag = Tag.find_normalized(params[:id])
   end
diff --git a/spec/requests/api/v1/timelines/link_spec.rb b/spec/requests/api/v1/timelines/link_spec.rb
index e1c914ab81a..a72b22e6fb8 100644
--- a/spec/requests/api/v1/timelines/link_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/api/v1/timelines/link_spec.rb
@@ -17,6 +17,14 @@ describe 'Link' do
     end
   end
 
+  # The default settings are that timeline_preview_local is true but
+  # timeline_preview_remote is false, which caused this spec to fail because it
+  # assumes the default visibility is true.
+  before do
+    Form::AdminSettings.new(timeline_preview_local: true).save
+    Form::AdminSettings.new(timeline_preview_remote: true).save
+  end
+
   describe 'GET /api/v1/timelines/link' do
     subject do
       get '/api/v1/timelines/link', headers: headers, params: params
@@ -79,7 +87,8 @@ describe 'Link' do
 
     context 'when the instance does not allow public preview' do
       before do
-        Form::AdminSettings.new(timeline_preview: false).save
+        Form::AdminSettings.new(timeline_preview_local: false).save
+        Form::AdminSettings.new(timeline_preview_remote: false).save
       end
 
       it_behaves_like 'forbidden for wrong scope', 'profile'
@@ -110,6 +119,11 @@ describe 'Link' do
     end
 
     context 'when the instance allows public preview' do
+      before do
+        Form::AdminSettings.new(timeline_preview_local: true).save
+        Form::AdminSettings.new(timeline_preview_remote: true).save
+      end
+
       context 'with an authorized user' do
         it_behaves_like 'a successful request to the link timeline'
       end