diff --git a/src/main/java/io/cryostat/configuration/CredentialsManager.java b/src/main/java/io/cryostat/configuration/CredentialsManager.java
index 42c576d944..572059f366 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/cryostat/configuration/CredentialsManager.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/cryostat/configuration/CredentialsManager.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 package io.cryostat.configuration;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
@@ -31,7 +30,6 @@
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Set;
 
-import javax.management.remote.JMXServiceURL;
 import javax.script.ScriptException;
 
 import io.cryostat.core.log.Logger;
@@ -51,7 +49,6 @@
 import dagger.Lazy;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.http.client.utils.URIBuilder;
-import org.openjdk.jmc.rjmx.ConnectionToolkit;
 
 public class CredentialsManager
         extends AbstractEventEmitter<CredentialsManager.CredentialsEvent, String> {
@@ -166,25 +163,14 @@ public int removeCredentials(String matchExpression) throws MatchExpressionValid
         return -1;
     }
 
-    public JMXServiceURL createServiceURL(String host, int port) throws MalformedURLException {
-        return ConnectionToolkit.createServiceURL(host, port);
-    }
-
     public Credentials getCredentialsByTargetId(String targetId) throws ScriptException {
         try {
             for (ServiceRef service : this.platformClient.listDiscoverableServices()) {
                 URI uri = service.getServiceUri();
                 boolean match = false;
                 boolean isJmx = URIUtil.isJmxUrl(uri);
-                boolean isShortForm = targetId.matches("localhost:\\d+");
-
                 if (isJmx) {
                     match = Objects.equals(uri.toString(), targetId);
-                } else if (isShortForm) {
-                    String[] parts = targetId.split(":");
-                    String host = parts[0];
-                    int port = Integer.parseInt(parts[1]);
-                    targetId = ConnectionToolkit.createServiceURL(host, port).toString();
                 } else {
                     URI in = new URI(targetId);
                     match = Objects.equals(uri, in);
@@ -196,7 +182,7 @@ public Credentials getCredentialsByTargetId(String targetId) throws ScriptExcept
                 }
             }
             return null;
-        } catch (URISyntaxException | MalformedURLException use) {
+        } catch (URISyntaxException use) {
             throw new IllegalStateException(use);
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/cryostat/net/web/http/api/v2/TargetsPostHandler.java b/src/main/java/io/cryostat/net/web/http/api/v2/TargetsPostHandler.java
index 83db4ecf16..e7eb62b7ee 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/cryostat/net/web/http/api/v2/TargetsPostHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/cryostat/net/web/http/api/v2/TargetsPostHandler.java
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
 import io.vertx.core.MultiMap;
 import io.vertx.core.http.HttpMethod;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
+import org.openjdk.jmc.rjmx.ConnectionToolkit;
 
 class TargetsPostHandler extends AbstractV2RequestHandler<ServiceRef> {
 
@@ -129,6 +130,14 @@ public IntermediateResponse<ServiceRef> handle(RequestParameters params) throws
         try {
             MultiMap attrs = params.getFormAttributes();
             String connectUrl = attrs.get("connectUrl");
+            // check incase custom target has short form connection url (i.e `localhost:0`,
+            // etc)
+            if (connectUrl.matches("localhost:\\d+")) {
+                String[] connectUrlParts = connectUrl.split(":");
+                String host = connectUrlParts[0];
+                int port = Integer.parseInt(connectUrlParts[1]);
+                connectUrl = ConnectionToolkit.createServiceURL(host, port).toString();
+            }
             if (StringUtils.isBlank(connectUrl)) {
                 throw new ApiException(400, "\"connectUrl\" form parameter must be provided");
             }
@@ -144,19 +153,16 @@ public IntermediateResponse<ServiceRef> handle(RequestParameters params) throws
             }
 
             MultiMap queries = params.getQueryParams();
-            boolean dryRun =
-                    StringUtils.isNotBlank(queries.get("dryrun"))
-                            && Boolean.valueOf(queries.get("dryrun"));
-            boolean storeCredentials =
-                    StringUtils.isNotBlank(queries.get("storeCredentials"))
-                            && Boolean.valueOf(queries.get("storeCredentials"));
+            boolean dryRun = StringUtils.isNotBlank(queries.get("dryrun"))
+                    && Boolean.valueOf(queries.get("dryrun"));
+            boolean storeCredentials = StringUtils.isNotBlank(queries.get("storeCredentials"))
+                    && Boolean.valueOf(queries.get("storeCredentials"));
 
             String username = attrs.get("username");
             String password = attrs.get("password");
-            Optional<Credentials> credentials =
-                    StringUtils.isBlank(username) || StringUtils.isBlank(password)
-                            ? Optional.empty()
-                            : Optional.of(new Credentials(username, password));
+            Optional<Credentials> credentials = StringUtils.isBlank(username) || StringUtils.isBlank(password)
+                    ? Optional.empty()
+                    : Optional.of(new Credentials(username, password));
 
             if (storeCredentials && credentials.isPresent()) {
                 String matchExpression = CredentialsManager.targetIdToMatchExpression(connectUrl);