diff --git a/apps/client/src/common/hooks-query/useProjectData.ts b/apps/client/src/common/hooks-query/useProjectData.ts
index ebace82e3..e530e581c 100644
--- a/apps/client/src/common/hooks-query/useProjectData.ts
+++ b/apps/client/src/common/hooks-query/useProjectData.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-import { useQuery } from '@tanstack/react-query';
+import { useMutation, useQuery, useQueryClient } from '@tanstack/react-query';
 
 import { queryRefetchIntervalSlow } from '../../ontimeConfig';
 import { PROJECT_DATA } from '../api/constants';
-import { getProjectData } from '../api/project';
+import { getProjectData, postProjectData } from '../api/project';
 import { projectDataPlaceholder } from '../models/ProjectData';
 
 export default function useProjectData() {
@@ -10,11 +10,25 @@ export default function useProjectData() {
     queryKey: PROJECT_DATA,
     queryFn: getProjectData,
     placeholderData: (previousData, _previousQuery) => previousData,
-    retry: 5,
-    retryDelay: (attempt) => attempt * 2500,
     refetchInterval: queryRefetchIntervalSlow,
-    networkMode: 'always',
   });
 
   return { data: data ?? projectDataPlaceholder, status, isFetching, isError, refetch };
 }
+
+export function useUpdateProjectData() {
+  const queryClient = useQueryClient();
+
+  const updateFn = useMutation({
+    mutationFn: postProjectData,
+    onSuccess: (newProjectData) => {
+      queryClient.setQueryData(PROJECT_DATA, newProjectData);
+    },
+  });
+
+  return {
+    updateProjectData: updateFn.mutateAsync,
+    isMutating: updateFn.isPending,
+    isMutatingError: updateFn.isError,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/apps/client/src/features/app-settings/panel/settings-panel/ProjectData.tsx b/apps/client/src/features/app-settings/panel/settings-panel/ProjectData.tsx
index 4e19d9191..9cd130010 100644
--- a/apps/client/src/features/app-settings/panel/settings-panel/ProjectData.tsx
+++ b/apps/client/src/features/app-settings/panel/settings-panel/ProjectData.tsx
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@ import { IoAdd, IoDownloadOutline, IoTrash } from 'react-icons/io5';
 import { type ProjectData } from 'ontime-types';
 
 import { projectLogoPath } from '../../../../common/api/constants';
-import { postProjectData, uploadProjectLogo } from '../../../../common/api/project';
+import { uploadProjectLogo } from '../../../../common/api/project';
 import { maybeAxiosError } from '../../../../common/api/utils';
 import Button from '../../../../common/components/buttons/Button';
 import Input from '../../../../common/components/input/input/Input';
 import Textarea from '../../../../common/components/input/textarea/Textarea';
-import useProjectData from '../../../../common/hooks-query/useProjectData';
+import useProjectData, { useUpdateProjectData } from '../../../../common/hooks-query/useProjectData';
 import { preventEscape } from '../../../../common/utils/keyEvent';
 import { validateLogo } from '../../../../common/utils/uploadUtils';
 import { documentationUrl } from '../../../../externals';
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ import style from './SettingsPanel.module.scss';
 
 export default function ProjectData() {
   'use no memo'; // RHF and react-compiler don't seem to get along
-  const { data, status, refetch } = useProjectData();
+  const { data, status } = useProjectData();
+  const { updateProjectData } = useUpdateProjectData();
 
   const {
     handleSubmit,
@@ -93,16 +94,14 @@ export default function ProjectData() {
 
   const onSubmit = async (formData: ProjectData) => {
     try {
-      await postProjectData(formData);
+      await updateProjectData(formData);
     } catch (error) {
       const message = maybeAxiosError(error);
       setError('root', { message });
-    } finally {
-      await refetch();
     }
   };
 
-  // populate with new data if we get an update
+  // reset data to the initial state
   const onReset = () => {
     reset(data);
   };
diff --git a/apps/server/src/api-data/project-data/projectData.validation.ts b/apps/server/src/api-data/project-data/projectData.validation.ts
index e55d1428f..272efe471 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/api-data/project-data/projectData.validation.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/api-data/project-data/projectData.validation.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ export const projectSanitiser = [
   body('custom').optional().isArray(),
   body('custom.*.title').optional().isString().trim().notEmpty(),
   body('custom.*.value').optional().isString().trim().notEmpty(),
-  body('custom.*.url').optional().isString().trim().notEmpty(),
+  body('custom.*.url').optional().isString().trim(),
 
   requestValidationFunction,
 ];