diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/22373-reduce-queries-in-api-helpers-find_project.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/22373-reduce-queries-in-api-helpers-find_project.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7f1d40e7c21f32e61454ae4049ee4686baddd30b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/22373-reduce-queries-in-api-helpers-find_project.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+title: 'Make API::Helpers find a project with only one query'
+merge_request: 7714
+author:
diff --git a/lib/api/helpers.rb b/lib/api/helpers.rb
index 2c593dbb4ea217e038c18683bbb3025ae2472c8f..60067758e955ebd46df56b358fc8a72d9f6049cf 100644
--- a/lib/api/helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/api/helpers.rb
@@ -76,7 +76,12 @@ module API
     end
 
     def find_project(id)
-      project = Project.find_with_namespace(id) || Project.find_by(id: id)
+      project =
+        if id =~ /^\d+$/
+          Project.find_by(id: id)
+        else
+          Project.find_with_namespace(id)
+        end
 
       if can?(current_user, :read_project, project)
         project