diff --git a/Sources/App/Commands/Ingestion.swift b/Sources/App/Commands/Ingestion.swift
index fddf6cf97..9ef819da2 100644
--- a/Sources/App/Commands/Ingestion.swift
+++ b/Sources/App/Commands/Ingestion.swift
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ enum Ingestion {
             // https://github.com/swiftlang/swift/issues/76169
             assert(false, "Unexpected error type: \(type(of: error))")
             // We need to throw _something_ here (we should never hit this codepath though)
-            throw Github.Error.requestFailed(.internalServerError)
+            throw Github.Error.unexpectedError(error)
             // We could theoretically avoid this whole second catch and just do
             //   error as! GithubError
             // but let's play it safe and not risk a server crash, unlikely as it may be.
@@ -333,7 +333,6 @@ enum Ingestion {
         repository.defaultBranch = repoMetadata.defaultBranch
         repository.forks = repoMetadata.forkCount
         repository.fundingLinks = repoMetadata.fundingLinks?.compactMap(FundingLink.init(from:)) ?? []
-        repository.hasSPIBadge = readmeInfo?.containsSPIBadge()
         repository.homepageUrl = repoMetadata.homepageUrl?.trimmed
         repository.isArchived = repoMetadata.isArchived
         repository.isInOrganization = repoMetadata.isInOrganization
@@ -341,7 +340,6 @@ enum Ingestion {
         repository.lastIssueClosedAt = repoMetadata.lastIssueClosedAt
         repository.lastPullRequestClosedAt = repoMetadata.lastPullRequestClosedAt
         repository.license = .init(from: repoMetadata.licenseInfo)
-        repository.licenseUrl = licenseInfo?.htmlUrl
         repository.name = repoMetadata.repositoryName
         repository.openIssues = repoMetadata.openIssues.totalCount
         repository.openPullRequests = repoMetadata.openPullRequests.totalCount
@@ -349,11 +347,17 @@ enum Ingestion {
         repository.ownerName = repoMetadata.owner.name
         repository.ownerAvatarUrl = repoMetadata.owner.avatarUrl
         repository.s3Readme = s3Readme
-        repository.readmeHtmlUrl = readmeInfo?.htmlUrl
         repository.releases = repoMetadata.releases.nodes.map(Release.init(from:))
         repository.stars = repoMetadata.stargazerCount
         repository.summary = repoMetadata.description
         repository.forkedFrom = fork
+        if let readmeInfo {
+            repository.hasSPIBadge = readmeInfo.containsSPIBadge()
+            repository.readmeHtmlUrl = readmeInfo.htmlUrl
+        }
+        if let licenseInfo {
+            repository.licenseUrl = licenseInfo.htmlUrl
+        }
 
         do {
             try await repository.save(on: database)
diff --git a/Sources/App/Core/Github.swift b/Sources/App/Core/Github.swift
index be3d4c1e1..e023737b7 100644
--- a/Sources/App/Core/Github.swift
+++ b/Sources/App/Core/Github.swift
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ enum Github {
         case invalidURL(String)
         case postRequestFailed(_ url: String, Swift.Error)
         case requestFailed(HTTPStatus)
+        case unexpectedError(Swift.Error)
     }
 
     static var decoder: JSONDecoder {
diff --git a/Tests/AppTests/IngestionTests.swift b/Tests/AppTests/IngestionTests.swift
index fbd98de4d..1043e650e 100644
--- a/Tests/AppTests/IngestionTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/AppTests/IngestionTests.swift
@@ -213,6 +213,23 @@ extension AllTests.IngestionTests {
                 #expect(repo.stars == 2)
                 #expect(repo.summary == "package desc")
             }
+
+            // update again but without license and readme info
+            try await Ingestion.updateRepository(on: app.db,
+                                                 for: repo,
+                                                 metadata: md,
+                                                 licenseInfo: nil,
+                                                 readmeInfo: nil,
+                                                 s3Readme: .cached(s3ObjectUrl: "url", githubEtag: "etag"),
+                                                 fork: .parentURL("https://github.com/foo/bar.git"))
+
+            // validate that license and readme info stays unchanged
+            do {
+                #expect(repo.hasSPIBadge == true)
+                #expect(repo.license == .mit)
+                #expect(repo.licenseUrl == "license url")
+                #expect(repo.readmeHtmlUrl == "readme html url")
+            }
         }
     }