diff --git a/yt_dlp/utils/_utils.py b/yt_dlp/utils/_utils.py
index de51f62083..f68cdb9686 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/utils/_utils.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/utils/_utils.py
@@ -5113,7 +5113,7 @@ def format_field(obj, field=None, template='%s', ignore=NO_DEFAULT, default='',
 
 
 def clean_podcast_url(url):
-    return re.sub(r'''(?x)
+    url = re.sub(r'''(?x)
         (?:
             (?:
                 chtbl\.com/track|
@@ -5127,6 +5127,7 @@ def clean_podcast_url(url):
                 st\.fm # https://podsights.com/docs/
             )/e
         )/''', '', url)
+    return re.sub(r'^\w+://(\w+://)', r'\1', url)
 
 
 _HEX_TABLE = '0123456789abcdef'