diff --git a/spec/factories/groups.rb b/spec/factories/groups.rb
index 947392b4fbc..b67ab955ffc 100644
--- a/spec/factories/groups.rb
+++ b/spec/factories/groups.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ FactoryBot.define do
     type 'Group'
     owner nil
     project_creation_level ::Gitlab::Access::MAINTAINER_PROJECT_ACCESS
-    subgroup_creation_level ::Gitlab::Access::OWNER_SUBGROUP_ACCESS
 
     after(:create) do |group|
       if group.owner
diff --git a/spec/requests/api/groups_spec.rb b/spec/requests/api/groups_spec.rb
index c41408fba65..52d926d5484 100644
--- a/spec/requests/api/groups_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/api/groups_spec.rb
@@ -803,10 +803,10 @@ describe API::Groups do
           group2.add_maintainer(user1)
         end
 
-        it 'cannot create subgroups' do
+        it 'can create subgroups' do
           post api("/groups", user1), params: { parent_id: group2.id, name: 'foo', path: 'foo' }
 
-          expect(response).to have_gitlab_http_status(403)
+          expect(response).to have_gitlab_http_status(201)
         end
       end
     end