diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/vimeo.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/vimeo.py
index d2c36b58a..e6a86f18e 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/vimeo.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/vimeo.py
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ class VimeoIE(VimeoBaseInfoExtractor, SubtitlesInfoExtractor):
 
     # _VALID_URL matches Vimeo URLs
     _VALID_URL = r'''(?x)
-        (?P<proto>(?:https?:)?//)?
+        https?://
         (?:(?:www|(?P<player>player))\.)?
         vimeo(?P<pro>pro)?\.com/
         (?!channels/[^/?#]+/?(?:$|[?#])|album/)