diff --git a/fiftyone/utils/coco.py b/fiftyone/utils/coco.py
index e61e7fcdf9..a184303efb 100644
--- a/fiftyone/utils/coco.py
+++ b/fiftyone/utils/coco.py
@@ -1479,13 +1479,9 @@ def download_coco_dataset_split(
     else:
         logger.info("Found %s at '%s'", anno_type, full_anno_path)
 
-    (
-        _,
-        all_classes,
-        _,
-        images,
-        annotations,
-    ) = load_coco_detection_annotations(full_anno_path)
+    # This will store the loaded annotations, if they were necessary
+    d = None
+    all_classes = None
 
     #
     # Download images to `images_dir`, if necessary
diff --git a/tests/intensive/dataset_zoo_tests.py b/tests/intensive/dataset_zoo_tests.py
index c5ac14f445..ca18ce916a 100644
--- a/tests/intensive/dataset_zoo_tests.py
+++ b/tests/intensive/dataset_zoo_tests.py
@@ -205,6 +205,9 @@ def test_coco_2017():
     assert counts["person"] >= 25
     dataset.delete()
 
+    dataset = foz.load_zoo_dataset("coco-2017", split="validation")
+    dataset.delete()
+
 
 def test_open_images_v6():
     dataset = foz.load_zoo_dataset(