diff --git a/offline/packages/trackreco/PHActsTrkFitter.cc b/offline/packages/trackreco/PHActsTrkFitter.cc
index 5a92307b81..d361af240a 100644
--- a/offline/packages/trackreco/PHActsTrkFitter.cc
+++ b/offline/packages/trackreco/PHActsTrkFitter.cc
@@ -543,17 +543,21 @@ void PHActsTrkFitter::loopTracks(Acts::Logging::Level logLevel)
         continue;
       }
 
+      // filter sourcelinks to remove detectors that we don't want to include in the fit
+      sourceLinks = filterSourceLinks( sourceLinks );
+
       if (sourceLinks.empty())
       {
         continue;
       }
 
       /// If using directed navigation, collect surface list to navigate
-      SurfacePtrVec surfaces_tmp;
       SurfacePtrVec surfaces;
       if (m_fitSiliconMMs || m_directNavigation)
       {
-        sourceLinks = getSurfaceVector(sourceLinks, surfaces_tmp);
+
+        // get surfaces matching source links
+        const auto surfaces_tmp = getSurfaceVector(sourceLinks);
 
         // skip if there is no surfaces
         if (surfaces_tmp.empty())
@@ -960,59 +964,45 @@ ActsTrackFittingAlgorithm::TrackFitterResult PHActsTrkFitter::fitTrack(
 }
 
 //__________________________________________________________________________________
-SourceLinkVec PHActsTrkFitter::getSurfaceVector(const SourceLinkVec& sourceLinks, SurfacePtrVec& surfaces) const
+SourceLinkVec PHActsTrkFitter::filterSourceLinks(const SourceLinkVec& sourceLinks ) const
 {
-  SourceLinkVec siliconMMSls;
-
-  //   if(Verbosity() > 1)
-  //     std::cout << "Sorting " << sourceLinks.size() << " SLs" << std::endl;
-
+  SourceLinkVec filtered;
   for (const auto& sl : sourceLinks)
   {
     const ActsSourceLink asl = sl.get<ActsSourceLink>();
-    if (Verbosity() > 1)
-    {
-      std::cout << "SL available on : " << asl.geometryId() << std::endl;
-    }
-
     const auto* const surf = m_tGeometry->geometry().tGeometry->findSurface(asl.geometryId());
-    if (m_fitSiliconMMs)
-    {
-      // skip TPC surfaces
-      if (m_tGeometry->maps().isTpcSurface(surf))
-      {
-        continue;
-      }
 
-      // also skip micromegas surfaces if not used
-      if (m_tGeometry->maps().isMicromegasSurface(surf) && !m_useMicromegas)
-      {
-        continue;
-      }
-    }
+    // skip TPC surfaces for fitSilicon MMs
+    if (m_tGeometry->maps().isTpcSurface(surf) && m_fitSiliconMMs)
+    { continue; }
 
-    if (m_forceSiOnlyFit)
-    {
-      if (m_tGeometry->maps().isMicromegasSurface(surf) || m_tGeometry->maps().isTpcSurface(surf))
-      {
-        continue;
-      }
-    }
+    // skip micromegas surfaces if not used
+    if (m_tGeometry->maps().isMicromegasSurface(surf) && !m_useMicromegas)
+    { continue; }
+
+    // skip everything but silicons if only silicon fit is required
+    if (m_forceSiOnlyFit && (m_tGeometry->maps().isMicromegasSurface(surf) || m_tGeometry->maps().isTpcSurface(surf)) )
+    { continue; }
 
     // update vectors
-    siliconMMSls.push_back(sl);
-    surfaces.push_back(surf);
+    filtered.push_back(sl);
   }
 
-  if (Verbosity() > 10)
+  return filtered;
+}
+
+//__________________________________________________________________________________
+SurfacePtrVec PHActsTrkFitter::getSurfaceVector(const SourceLinkVec& sourceLinks) const
+{
+  SurfacePtrVec surfaces;
+  for (const auto& sl : sourceLinks)
   {
-    for (const auto& surf : surfaces)
-    {
-      std::cout << "Surface vector : " << surf->geometryId() << std::endl;
-    }
+    const ActsSourceLink asl = sl.get<ActsSourceLink>();
+    const auto* const surf = m_tGeometry->geometry().tGeometry->findSurface(asl.geometryId());
+    surfaces.push_back(surf);
   }
 
-  return siliconMMSls;
+  return surfaces;
 }
 
 void PHActsTrkFitter::checkSurfaceVec(SurfacePtrVec& surfaces) const
diff --git a/offline/packages/trackreco/PHActsTrkFitter.h b/offline/packages/trackreco/PHActsTrkFitter.h
index 09a8ab9d1d..056c3e88b3 100644
--- a/offline/packages/trackreco/PHActsTrkFitter.h
+++ b/offline/packages/trackreco/PHActsTrkFitter.h
@@ -164,18 +164,20 @@ class PHActsTrkFitter : public SubsysReco
   /// Helper function to call either the regular navigation or direct
   /// navigation, depending on m_fitSiliconMMs
   ActsTrackFittingAlgorithm::TrackFitterResult fitTrack(
-      const std::vector<Acts::SourceLink>& sourceLinks,
-      const ActsTrackFittingAlgorithm::TrackParameters& seed,
-      const ActsTrackFittingAlgorithm::GeneralFitterOptions&
-          kfOptions,
-      const SurfacePtrVec& surfSequence,
-      const CalibratorAdapter& calibrator,
-      ActsTrackFittingAlgorithm::TrackContainer& tracks);
-
-  /// Functions to get list of sorted surfaces for direct navigation, if
-  /// applicable
-  SourceLinkVec getSurfaceVector(const SourceLinkVec& sourceLinks,
-                                 SurfacePtrVec& surfaces) const;
+    const std::vector<Acts::SourceLink>& sourceLinks,
+    const ActsTrackFittingAlgorithm::TrackParameters& seed,
+    const ActsTrackFittingAlgorithm::GeneralFitterOptions& kfOptions,
+    const SurfacePtrVec& surfSequence,
+    const CalibratorAdapter& calibrator,
+    ActsTrackFittingAlgorithm::TrackContainer& tracks);
+
+  // remove all source links for detectors that we don't want to include in the fit
+  SourceLinkVec filterSourceLinks(const SourceLinkVec& sourceLinks ) const;
+
+  /// get list of sorted surfaces for direct navigation, if applicable
+  SurfacePtrVec getSurfaceVector(const SourceLinkVec& sourceLinks) const;
+
+  /// check ordering of the surfaces
   void checkSurfaceVec(SurfacePtrVec& surfaces) const;
 
   bool getTrackFitResult(const FitResult& fitOutput, TrackSeed* seed,