diff --git a/.semaphore/semaphore-runner.sh b/.semaphore/semaphore-runner.sh
index ba21811718..a509473b17 100755
--- a/.semaphore/semaphore-runner.sh
+++ b/.semaphore/semaphore-runner.sh
@@ -19,14 +19,7 @@ PHASES=(${@:-SETUP RUN})
 UBUNTU_RELEASE="$(lsb_release -cs)"
 
 create_container() {
-    # Create autopkgtest LXC image; this sometimes fails with "Unable to fetch
-    # GPG key from keyserver", so retry a few times with different keyservers.
-    for keyserver in "keys.openpgp.org" "" "keyserver.ubuntu.com" "keys.gnupg.net"; do
-        for retry in {1..5}; do
-            sudo lxc-create -n "$CONTAINER" -t download -- -d "$DISTRO" -r "$RELEASE" -a "$ARCH" ${keyserver:+--keyserver "$keyserver"} && break 2
-            sleep $((retry*retry))
-        done
-    done
+    sudo lxc-create -n "$CONTAINER" -t download -- -d "$DISTRO" -r "$RELEASE" -a "$ARCH"
 
     # unconfine the container, otherwise some tests fail
     echo 'lxc.apparmor.profile = unconfined' | sudo tee -a "/var/lib/lxc/$CONTAINER/config"