diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d396c569668c9..6987176032582 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/) and this p
 - Fixes an issue where commit messages become invisible during interactive rebase in some themes ([#4886](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4886))
 - Fixes issue in the _Commit Graph_ minimap where it only shows a spinner when the repo has no commits [#4741](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4741)
 
+### Changed
+
+- Stops requesting GitHub session retrieval via VS Code built-in sessions. Instead, if there is no existing GitLens session available in VS Code, it always uses the GKDev flow ([#4881](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4881))
+
 ## [17.9.0] - 2026-01-13
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/src/plus/integrations/authentication/github.ts b/src/plus/integrations/authentication/github.ts
index 3c6c88a57e98c..eb332b061750e 100644
--- a/src/plus/integrations/authentication/github.ts
+++ b/src/plus/integrations/authentication/github.ts
@@ -37,14 +37,9 @@ export class GitHubAuthenticationProvider extends CloudIntegrationAuthentication
 		descriptor: IntegrationAuthenticationSessionDescriptor,
 		options?: { createIfNeeded?: boolean; forceNewSession?: boolean; source?: Sources },
 	): Promise<ProviderAuthenticationSession | undefined> {
-		let session = await getBuiltInIntegrationSession(this.container, this.authProviderId, descriptor, {
+		const session = await getBuiltInIntegrationSession(this.container, this.authProviderId, descriptor, {
 			silent: true,
 		});
-		if (session != null && options?.forceNewSession) {
-			session = await getBuiltInIntegrationSession(this.container, this.authProviderId, descriptor, {
-				forceNewSession: true,
-			});
-		}
 
 		if (session != null) return session;