diff --git a/src/pages/index.jsx b/src/pages/index.jsx
index e891e2f9d..b6a1881ae 100644
--- a/src/pages/index.jsx
+++ b/src/pages/index.jsx
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ function Index({ initialSettings, fallback }) {
           localStorage.setItem("hash", hashData.hash);
         }
 
-        if (previousHash && previousHash !== hashData.hash) {
+        if (!initialSettings.isValid || (previousHash && previousHash !== hashData.hash)) {
           setStale(true);
           localStorage.setItem("hash", hashData.hash);
 
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ function Index({ initialSettings, fallback }) {
         }
       }
     }
-  }, [hashData]);
+  }, [hashData, initialSettings]);
 
   if (stale) {
     return (
diff --git a/src/utils/config/config.js b/src/utils/config/config.js
index 57a63f7b4..0415cfca5 100644
--- a/src/utils/config/config.js
+++ b/src/utils/config/config.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /* eslint-disable no-console */
 import { join } from "path";
-import { existsSync, copyFile, readFileSync } from "fs";
+import { existsSync, copyFile, readFileSync, statSync } from "fs";
 
 import yaml from "js-yaml";
 
@@ -32,5 +32,18 @@ export function getSettings() {
 
   const settingsYaml = join(process.cwd(), "config", "settings.yaml");
   const fileContents = readFileSync(settingsYaml, "utf8");
-  return yaml.load(fileContents) ?? {};
+
+  let stats;
+  try {
+    stats = statSync(settingsYaml);
+  } catch (e) {
+    stats = {};
+  }
+
+  const yamlLoaded = yaml.load(fileContents) ?? {};
+
+  return { 
+    ...yamlLoaded,
+    isValid: fileContents !== "-\n" && stats.size !== 2 // see https://github.com/benphelps/homepage/pull/609
+  };
 }
\ No newline at end of file