diff --git a/src/backend/app/projects/project_routes.py b/src/backend/app/projects/project_routes.py
index 479d425e79..128472ffa6 100644
--- a/src/backend/app/projects/project_routes.py
+++ b/src/backend/app/projects/project_routes.py
@@ -221,6 +221,10 @@ async def read_project(project_id: int, db: Session = Depends(database.get_db)):
     project = await project_crud.get_project_by_id(db, project_id)
     if not project:
         raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Project not found")
+    if project.odk_token == "":
+        log.warning(
+            f"Project ({project.id}) has no 'odk_token' set. The QRCode will not work!"
+        )
     return project
 
 
diff --git a/src/backend/app/projects/project_schemas.py b/src/backend/app/projects/project_schemas.py
index 168996e78b..9ea4e1590b 100644
--- a/src/backend/app/projects/project_schemas.py
+++ b/src/backend/app/projects/project_schemas.py
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ class ProjectOut(ProjectWithTasks):
 class ReadProject(ProjectWithTasks):
     """Redundant model for refactor."""
 
-    odk_token: str
+    odk_token: Optional[str] = None
     project_uuid: uuid.UUID = uuid.uuid4()
     location_str: Optional[str] = None
     data_extract_url: Optional[str] = None