diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/spiegel.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/spiegel.py
index f345883c7..b868241d5 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/spiegel.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/spiegel.py
@@ -4,14 +4,7 @@ from __future__ import unicode_literals
 import re
 
 from .common import InfoExtractor
-from ..compat import (
-    compat_urlparse,
-    compat_HTTPError,
-)
-from ..utils import (
-    HEADRequest,
-    ExtractorError,
-)
+from ..compat import compat_urlparse
 from .spiegeltv import SpiegeltvIE
 
 
@@ -72,16 +65,6 @@ class SpiegelIE(InfoExtractor):
             if n.tag.startswith('type') and n.tag != 'type6':
                 format_id = n.tag.rpartition('type')[2]
                 video_url = base_url + n.find('./filename').text
-                # Test video URLs beforehand as some of them are invalid
-                try:
-                    self._request_webpage(
-                        HEADRequest(video_url), video_id,
-                        'Checking %s video URL' % format_id)
-                except ExtractorError as e:
-                    if isinstance(e.cause, compat_HTTPError) and e.cause.code == 404:
-                        self.report_warning(
-                            '%s video URL is invalid, skipping' % format_id, video_id)
-                        continue
                 formats.append({
                     'format_id': format_id,
                     'url': video_url,
@@ -94,6 +77,7 @@ class SpiegelIE(InfoExtractor):
                 })
         duration = float(idoc[0].findall('./duration')[0].text)
 
+        self._check_formats(formats, video_id)
         self._sort_formats(formats)
 
         return {