diff --git a/cate/ds/esa_cci_odp.py b/cate/ds/esa_cci_odp.py
index 2a6289a06..e8c3e9262 100644
--- a/cate/ds/esa_cci_odp.py
+++ b/cate/ds/esa_cci_odp.py
@@ -548,15 +548,8 @@ def open_dataset(self,
                      var_names: VarNamesLike.TYPE = None,
                      protocol: str = None) -> Any:
         time_range = TimeRangeLike.convert(time_range) if time_range else None
-        if region:
-            region = PolygonLike.convert(region)
-        if var_names:
-            var_names = VarNamesLike.convert(var_names)
-        if protocol is None:
-            protocol = _ODP_PROTOCOL_HTTP
-        if protocol not in self.protocols:
-            raise ValueError('Protocol \'{}\' is not supported.'
-                             .format(protocol))
+        region = PolygonLike.convert(region) if region else None
+        var_names = VarNamesLike.convert(var_names) if var_names else None
 
         selected_file_list = self._find_files(time_range)
         if not selected_file_list:
@@ -565,15 +558,7 @@ def open_dataset(self,
                 msg += ' in given time range {}'.format(TimeRangeLike.format(time_range))
             raise IOError(msg)
 
-        files = []
-        if protocol == _ODP_PROTOCOL_OPENDAP:
-            files = [file_rec[4][protocol].replace('.html', '') for file_rec in selected_file_list]
-        elif protocol == _ODP_PROTOCOL_HTTP:
-            dataset_dir = self.local_dataset_dir()
-            files = [os.path.join(dataset_dir, file_rec[0]) for file_rec in selected_file_list]
-            for file in files:
-                if not os.path.exists(file):
-                    raise IOError('Missing local data files, consider synchronizing the dataset first.')
+        files = self._get_urls_list(selected_file_list, _ODP_PROTOCOL_OPENDAP)
         try:
             ds = open_xarray_dataset(files)
             if region: