diff --git a/osu.Game.Tournament/TournamentGameBase.cs b/osu.Game.Tournament/TournamentGameBase.cs
index 6456ce2d58..4d7abfe272 100644
--- a/osu.Game.Tournament/TournamentGameBase.cs
+++ b/osu.Game.Tournament/TournamentGameBase.cs
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Tournament
                     if (b.BeatmapInfo == null && b.ID > 0)
                     {
                         var req = new GetBeatmapRequest(new BeatmapInfo { OnlineBeatmapID = b.ID });
-                        req.Perform(API);
+                        API.Perform(req);
                         b.BeatmapInfo = req.Result?.ToBeatmap(RulesetStore);
 
                         addedInfo = true;
diff --git a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/BeatmapManager.cs b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/BeatmapManager.cs
index bc78e50f5d..a2e750cac5 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/BeatmapManager.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/BeatmapManager.cs
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps
                 try
                 {
                     // intentionally blocking to limit web request concurrency
-                    req.Perform(api);
+                    api.Perform(req);
 
                     var res = req.Result;
 
diff --git a/osu.Game/Database/DownloadableArchiveModelManager.cs b/osu.Game/Database/DownloadableArchiveModelManager.cs
index 0b7d63f469..243060388f 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Database/DownloadableArchiveModelManager.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Database/DownloadableArchiveModelManager.cs
@@ -99,17 +99,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Database
             currentDownloads.Add(request);
             PostNotification?.Invoke(notification);
 
-            Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
-            {
-                try
-                {
-                    request.Perform(api);
-                }
-                catch (Exception error)
-                {
-                    triggerFailure(error);
-                }
-            }, TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning);
+            api.PerformAsync(request);
 
             DownloadBegan?.Invoke(request);
             return true;
diff --git a/osu.Game/Online/API/APIAccess.cs b/osu.Game/Online/API/APIAccess.cs
index b6127027cc..1c45d26afd 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Online/API/APIAccess.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Online/API/APIAccess.cs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.Net;
 using System.Net.Http;
 using System.Threading;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
 using osu.Framework.Bindables;
 using osu.Framework.Graphics;
@@ -198,6 +199,22 @@ namespace osu.Game.Online.API
             }
         }
 
+        public void Perform(APIRequest request)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                request.Perform(this);
+            }
+            catch (Exception e)
+            {
+                // todo: fix exception handling
+                request.Fail(e);
+            }
+        }
+
+        public Task PerformAsync(APIRequest request) =>
+            Task.Factory.StartNew(() => Perform(request), TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning);
+
         public void Login(string username, string password)
         {
             Debug.Assert(State == APIState.Offline);
diff --git a/osu.Game/Online/API/DummyAPIAccess.cs b/osu.Game/Online/API/DummyAPIAccess.cs
index 28132765d3..7f23f9b5d5 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Online/API/DummyAPIAccess.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Online/API/DummyAPIAccess.cs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Threading;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using osu.Framework.Bindables;
 using osu.Framework.Graphics;
 using osu.Game.Users;
@@ -56,6 +57,10 @@ namespace osu.Game.Online.API
         {
         }
 
+        public void Perform(APIRequest request) { }
+
+        public Task PerformAsync(APIRequest request) => Task.CompletedTask;
+
         public void Register(IOnlineComponent component)
         {
             Scheduler.Add(delegate { components.Add(component); });
diff --git a/osu.Game/Online/API/IAPIProvider.cs b/osu.Game/Online/API/IAPIProvider.cs
index 0cd41aee26..dff6d0b2ce 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Online/API/IAPIProvider.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Online/API/IAPIProvider.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright (c) ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>. Licensed under the MIT Licence.
 // See the LICENCE file in the repository root for full licence text.
 
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using osu.Framework.Bindables;
 using osu.Game.Users;
 
@@ -42,6 +43,24 @@ namespace osu.Game.Online.API
         /// <param name="request">The request to perform.</param>
         void Queue(APIRequest request);
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Perform a request immediately, bypassing any API state checks.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// Can be used to run requests as a guest user.
+        /// </remarks>
+        /// <param name="request">The request to perform.</param>
+        void Perform(APIRequest request);
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Perform a request immediately, bypassing any API state checks.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// Can be used to run requests as a guest user.
+        /// </remarks>
+        /// <param name="request">The request to perform.</param>
+        Task PerformAsync(APIRequest request);
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Register a component to receive state changes.
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/osu.Game/Overlays/Changelog/ChangelogSingleBuild.cs b/osu.Game/Overlays/Changelog/ChangelogSingleBuild.cs
index 3297b00322..67bcb6f558 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Overlays/Changelog/ChangelogSingleBuild.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Overlays/Changelog/ChangelogSingleBuild.cs
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 using System;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Threading;
-using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using osu.Framework.Allocation;
 using osu.Framework.Extensions.Color4Extensions;
 using osu.Framework.Graphics;
@@ -43,18 +42,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Overlays.Changelog
             };
             req.Failure += _ => complete = true;
 
-            // This is done on a separate thread to support cancellation below
-            Task.Run(() =>
-            {
-                try
-                {
-                    req.Perform(api);
-                }
-                catch
-                {
-                    complete = true;
-                }
-            });
+            api.PerformAsync(req);
 
             while (!complete)
             {
diff --git a/osu.Game/Overlays/ChangelogOverlay.cs b/osu.Game/Overlays/ChangelogOverlay.cs
index 559989af5c..fbc9dfcbd9 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Overlays/ChangelogOverlay.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Overlays/ChangelogOverlay.cs
@@ -191,15 +191,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Overlays
                     tcs.SetResult(false);
                 };
 
-                try
-                {
-                    req.Perform(API);
-                }
-                catch
-                {
-                    initialFetchTask = null;
-                    tcs.SetResult(false);
-                }
+                await API.PerformAsync(req);
 
                 await tcs.Task;
             });