diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParser.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParser.java
index c4c22c7..f7deaf4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParser.java
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@
 import java.util.Set;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.ConfigInvalidException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Config;
-import org.eclipse.jgit.transport.RefSpec;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.transport.RemoteConfig;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.transport.URIish;
 
@@ -64,12 +63,6 @@
         continue;
       }
 
-      // fetch source has to be specified.
-      if (c.getFetchRefSpecs().isEmpty()) {
-        throw new ConfigInvalidException(
-            String.format("You must specify a valid refSpec for this remote"));
-      }
-
       SourceConfiguration sourceConfig = new SourceConfiguration(c, config);
 
       if (!sourceConfig.isSingleProjectMatch()) {
@@ -108,14 +101,9 @@
     for (String name : names) {
       try {
         final RemoteConfig remoteConfig = new RemoteConfig(cfg, name);
-        if (remoteConfig.getFetchRefSpecs().isEmpty()) {
-          remoteConfig.setFetchRefSpecs(
-              List.of(
-                  new RefSpec()
-                      .setSourceDestination("refs/*", "refs/*")
-                      .setForceUpdate(replicationConfigProvider.get().isDefaultForceUpdate())));
+        if (!remoteConfig.getFetchRefSpecs().isEmpty()) {
+          result.add(remoteConfig);
         }
-        result.add(remoteConfig);
       } catch (URISyntaxException e) {
         throw new ConfigInvalidException(
             String.format("remote %s has invalid URL in %s", name, cfg));
diff --git a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
index 1635e5c..74648eb 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
+++ b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
   [remote "host-two"]
     url = gerrit2@host-two.example.com:/some/path/${name}.git
     apiUrl = http://host-two.example.com:8080
+    fetch = +refs/*:refs/*
 
   [remote "pubmirror"]
     url = mirror1.us.some.org:/pub/git/${name}.git
@@ -443,12 +444,8 @@
 	when `replicatePermissions` is true, even if the push refspec
 	is 'all refs'.
 
->  NOTE: When using the pull-replication and replication plugins together,
->  **NOT having** a `fetch` configuration for a remote, will also enable
->  the standard _push_ replication for that remote.
-
-  Default: refs/*:refs/*, with the force fetch set to
-    `gerrit.defaultForceUpdate`
+>  NOTE: **NOT having** a `fetch` configuration for a remote, causes
+>  the remote to be ignored.
 
 [2]: #example_file
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParserTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParserTest.java
index 6229e02..c7102ae 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParserTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParserTest.java
@@ -18,9 +18,12 @@
 import static com.google.gerrit.testing.GerritJUnit.assertThrows;
 
 import com.google.inject.util.Providers;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.RemoteConfiguration;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.api.ReplicationConfig;
+import java.util.List;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.ConfigInvalidException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Config;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.transport.RefSpec;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
@@ -29,6 +32,10 @@
 
 @RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)
 public class SourceConfigParserTest {
+  private static final String TEST_REMOTE_URL = "http://git.foo.remote.url/${name}";
+  private static final String TEST_REMOTE_FETCH_REFSPEC = "refs/heads/mybranch:refs/heads/mybranch";
+  private static final String TEST_REMOTE_NAME = "testremote";
+
   @Mock ReplicationConfig replicationConfigMock;
 
   private SourceConfigParser objectUnderTest;
@@ -54,4 +61,29 @@
             .getMessage();
     assertThat(errorMessage).contains("invalid configuration");
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void shouldIgnoreRemoteWithoutFetchConfiguration() throws Exception {
+    Config config = new Config();
+    config.fromText("[remote \"foo\"]\n" + "url = http://git.foo.remote.url/repo");
+
+    assertThat(objectUnderTest.parseRemotes(config)).isEmpty();
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void shouldParseRemoteWithFetchConfiguration() throws Exception {
+    Config config = new Config();
+    config.fromText(
+        String.format(
+            "[remote \"%s\"]\n" + "url = %s\n" + "fetch = %s",
+            TEST_REMOTE_NAME, TEST_REMOTE_URL, TEST_REMOTE_FETCH_REFSPEC));
+
+    List<RemoteConfiguration> remotes = objectUnderTest.parseRemotes(config);
+    assertThat(remotes).hasSize(1);
+    RemoteConfiguration remoteConfig = remotes.get(0);
+
+    assertThat(remoteConfig.getUrls()).containsExactly(TEST_REMOTE_URL);
+    assertThat(remoteConfig.getRemoteConfig().getFetchRefSpecs())
+        .containsExactly(new RefSpec(TEST_REMOTE_FETCH_REFSPEC));
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourcesFetchPeriodicallyIT.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourcesFetchPeriodicallyIT.java
index 5ac1deb..f51376d 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourcesFetchPeriodicallyIT.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourcesFetchPeriodicallyIT.java
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
     List<String> fetchUrls =
         buildReplicaURLs(replicaSuffixes, s -> gitPath.resolve("${name}" + s + ".git").toString());
     config.setStringList("remote", remoteName, "url", fetchUrls);
+    config.setString("remote", remoteName, "fetch", "+refs/*:refs/*");
     project.ifPresent(prj -> config.setString("remote", remoteName, "projects", prj));
     config.setString("remote", remoteName, "fetchEvery", TEST_FETCH_FREQUENCY);
     config.save();