Herein, we report on a proof-of-concept application of tetrazole-stabilized Au nanoparticles (NPs) for CO oxidation. After impregnation of the support material TiO₂ with the tetrazole-stabilized Au NPs (diameter<5 nm), a thermal heat treatment under oxygen is used to remove the tetrazole from the NP surface. The resulting surfactant-free NPs are used in the CO oxidation and show enhanced catalytic activity in comparison to the untreated samples demonstrating the potential of tetrazole-stabilized NPs for various catalytic applications.