diff --git a/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/helper/CommitHelper.java b/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/helper/CommitHelper.java
index 6bd207e70406e5e49cb33470a356d5d522e53551..06124d34558f70c3300e90e05110e57f4eb88003 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/helper/CommitHelper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/helper/CommitHelper.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import javax.ws.rs.core.MultivaluedMap;
 
 import org.eclipsefoundation.git.eca.model.Commit;
+import org.eclipsefoundation.git.eca.model.Project;
 import org.eclipsefoundation.git.eca.model.ValidationRequest;
 import org.eclipsefoundation.git.eca.namespace.GitEcaParameterNames;
 import org.jboss.resteasy.specimpl.MultivaluedMapImpl;
@@ -63,10 +64,22 @@ public class CommitHelper {
     public static MultivaluedMap<String, String> getCommitParams(List<String> commitShas, String projectId, String repoUrl) {
         MultivaluedMap<String, String> params = new MultivaluedMapImpl<>();
         params.put(GitEcaParameterNames.SHAS_RAW, commitShas);
-        params.add(GitEcaParameterNames.PROJECT_ID_RAW, projectId);
         params.add(GitEcaParameterNames.REPO_URL_RAW, repoUrl);
+        if (projectId != null) {
+            params.add(GitEcaParameterNames.PROJECT_ID_RAW, projectId);
+        }
         return params;
     }
+    
+    /**
+     * Centralized way of retrieving a checked project ID from a project for use when interacting with commits and commit data.
+     * 
+     * @param p the current project to attempt to retrieve an ID from
+     * @return the project ID or the given default (empty string).
+     */
+    public static String getProjectId(Project p) {
+        return p != null ? p.getProjectId() : "";
+    }
 
     private CommitHelper() {
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/service/impl/DefaultValidationService.java b/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/service/impl/DefaultValidationService.java
index cf117411d562d414920756ee81d2f8ba68e664fd..230bc2e4e7b3e8a597945ec07a59dd790776df10 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/service/impl/DefaultValidationService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/service/impl/DefaultValidationService.java
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ public class DefaultValidationService implements ValidationService {
             List<CommitValidationStatus> statuses, Project p) {
         // remove existing messaging
         RDBMSQuery<CommitValidationMessage> q = new RDBMSQuery<>(wrapper, filters.get(CommitValidationMessage.class),
-                CommitHelper.getCommitParams(req, p != null ? p.getProjectId() : null));
+                CommitHelper.getCommitParams(req, CommitHelper.getProjectId(p)));
 
         List<CommitValidationMessage> messages = new ArrayList<>();
         List<CommitValidationStatus> updatedStatuses = new ArrayList<>();
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ public class DefaultValidationService implements ValidationService {
                 base = status.get();
             } else {
                 base = new CommitValidationStatus();
-                base.setProject(p != null ? p.getProjectId() : null);
+                base.setProject(CommitHelper.getProjectId(p));
                 base.setCommitHash(e.getKey());
                 base.setProvider(req.getProvider());
                 base.setRepoUrl(req.getRepoUrl().toString());