diff --git a/readthedocs/api/v3/permissions.py b/readthedocs/api/v3/permissions.py
index fb86f1db49a..7ce4be0a61d 100644
--- a/readthedocs/api/v3/permissions.py
+++ b/readthedocs/api/v3/permissions.py
@@ -1,32 +1,37 @@
-from rest_framework.permissions import IsAuthenticated
+from rest_framework.permissions import BasePermission
 
 
-class PublicDetailPrivateListing(IsAuthenticated):
+class PublicDetailPrivateListing(BasePermission):
 
     """
     Permission class for our custom use case.
 
     * Always give permission for a ``detail`` request
     * Only give permission for ``listing`` request if user is admin of the project
+    """
+
+    def has_permission(self, request, view):
+        if view.detail:
+            return True
+
+        project = view._get_parent_project()
+        if view.has_admin_permission(request.user, project):
+            return True
+
+
+class ListCreateProject(BasePermission):
+
+    """
+    Permission class to grant projects listing and project creation.
+
     * Allow access to ``/projects`` (user's projects listing)
     """
 
     def has_permission(self, request, view):
-        is_authenticated = super().has_permission(request, view)
-        if is_authenticated:
-            if view.basename == 'projects' and any([
-                    view.action == 'list',
-                    view.action == 'create',  # used to create Form in BrowsableAPIRenderer
-                    view.action is None,  # needed for BrowsableAPIRenderer
-            ]):
-                # hitting ``/projects/``, allowing
-                return True
-
-            if view.detail:
-                return True
-
-            project = view._get_parent_project()
-            if view.has_admin_permission(request.user, project):
-                return True
-
-        return False
+        if view.basename == 'projects' and any([
+                view.action == 'list',
+                view.action == 'create',  # used to create Form in BrowsableAPIRenderer
+                view.action is None,  # needed for BrowsableAPIRenderer
+        ]):
+            # hitting ``/projects/``, allowing
+            return True
diff --git a/readthedocs/api/v3/views.py b/readthedocs/api/v3/views.py
index 6f0d77448c3..1c4da3e2d97 100644
--- a/readthedocs/api/v3/views.py
+++ b/readthedocs/api/v3/views.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
     UpdateModelMixin,
 )
 from rest_framework.pagination import LimitOffsetPagination
+from rest_framework.permissions import IsAuthenticated
 from rest_framework.renderers import BrowsableAPIRenderer
 from rest_framework.response import Response
 from rest_framework.throttling import AnonRateThrottle, UserRateThrottle
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@
 
 from .filters import BuildFilter, ProjectFilter, VersionFilter
 from .mixins import ProjectQuerySetMixin
-from .permissions import PublicDetailPrivateListing
+from .permissions import PublicDetailPrivateListing, ListCreateProject
 from .renderers import AlphabeticalSortedJSONRenderer
 from .serializers import (
     BuildCreateSerializer,
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ class APIv3Settings:
     # Using only ``TokenAuthentication`` for now, so we can give access to
     # specific carefully selected users only
     authentication_classes = (TokenAuthentication,)
-    permission_classes = (PublicDetailPrivateListing,)
+    permission_classes = (IsAuthenticated & (ListCreateProject | PublicDetailPrivateListing),)
 
     pagination_class = LimitOffsetPagination
     LimitOffsetPagination.default_limit = 10