The invention provides a selectively absorbing optical fiber that is transparent at pump wavelengths, and highly absorbing at signal wavelengths. The selectively absorbing optical fiber includes selectively absorbing species, such as rare earth ions, in concentrations sufficient to provide the desired absorbance selectivity. The fiber is useful as a fiber pigtail for pump lasers in optical amplifiers, where it can reduce the effects of multi-path interference by absorbing stray light with wavelengths in the signal band.