diff --git a/src/Controller/CAPI/CustomerWarrantyController.php b/src/Controller/CAPI/CustomerWarrantyController.php
index edf00e2e..89705b14 100644
--- a/src/Controller/CAPI/CustomerWarrantyController.php
+++ b/src/Controller/CAPI/CustomerWarrantyController.php
@@ -89,18 +89,29 @@ class CustomerWarrantyController extends APIController
         return true;
     }
 
-    protected function cleanSerial($serial)
-    {
-        return trim(strtoupper($serial));
-    }
-
     protected function cleanPlateNumber($plate_num)
     {
         return preg_replace('/\s+/', '', strtoupper($plate_num));
     }
 
+    protected function cleanSerial($serial)
+    {
+        // trim and make everything upper case
+        $clean_serial = trim(strtoupper($serial));
+
+
+        // remove QR prefix if it exists
+        $prefix = substr($clean_serial, 0, 2);
+        if ($prefix == 'QR')
+            $clean_serial = substr($clean_serial, 2);
+
+        return $clean_serial;
+    }
+
     public function check($serial, EntityManagerInterface $em, Request $req, WarrantyAPILogger $logger)
     {
+        $serial = $this->cleanSerial($serial);
+
         $user_id = $_SERVER['HTTP_X_CATA_API_KEY'];
         $log_data = [
             'serial' => $serial,
@@ -303,6 +314,7 @@ class CustomerWarrantyController extends APIController
     public function register($serial, EntityManagerInterface $em, Request $req, KernelInterface $kernel, RisingTideGateway $rt, TranslatorInterface $trans,
                              WarrantyAPILogger $logger)
     {
+        $serial = $this->cleanSerial($serial);
         error_log('HERE - register');
 
         // set up information for logging
@@ -366,6 +378,8 @@ class CustomerWarrantyController extends APIController
     // TODO: move this to a service, since it's shared by all warranty updaters
     protected function handlePictureUpload($file, $target_dir, $serial, $name)
     {
+        $serial = $this->cleanSerial($serial);
+
         error_log("handling $name upload");
         // no file sent
         if ($file == null)