When I did mine last, I had a go at removing it, but wasn't sure what to expect and with no spare (do now), decided to refrain and just clean the gallery really well and blowing air through. I figured if it held a small amount of air pressure from my big mouth in direction of feed, it'd be ok.
After ~8K miles leaks down a bit on the odd occasion it sits for a week or so, but as I use the bike often (most days), seems ok