diff --git a/src/pages/index.jsx b/src/pages/index.jsx
index 152f28f1..9aff3c0e 100644
--- a/src/pages/index.jsx
+++ b/src/pages/index.jsx
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ function Index({ initialSettings, fallback }) {
           localStorage.setItem("hash", hashData.hash);
         }
 
-        if (!initialSettings.isValid || (previousHash && previousHash !== hashData.hash)) {
+        if (previousHash && previousHash !== hashData.hash) {
           setStale(true);
           localStorage.setItem("hash", hashData.hash);
 
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ function Index({ initialSettings, fallback }) {
         }
       }
     }
-  }, [hashData, initialSettings]);
+  }, [hashData]);
 
   if (stale) {
     return (
diff --git a/src/utils/config/config.js b/src/utils/config/config.js
index 0415cfca..57a63f7b 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, statSync } from "fs";
+import { existsSync, copyFile, readFileSync } from "fs";
 
 import yaml from "js-yaml";
 
@@ -32,18 +32,5 @@ export function getSettings() {
 
   const settingsYaml = join(process.cwd(), "config", "settings.yaml");
   const fileContents = readFileSync(settingsYaml, "utf8");
-
-  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
-  };
+  return yaml.load(fileContents) ?? {};
 }
\ No newline at end of file