diff --git a/src/lib/db/project-store.ts b/src/lib/db/project-store.ts
index c2f45f21b7..f9be0306fd 100644
--- a/src/lib/db/project-store.ts
+++ b/src/lib/db/project-store.ts
@@ -559,7 +559,11 @@ class ProjectStore implements IProjectStore {
 
     async getProjectModeCounts(): Promise<ProjectModeCount[]> {
         const result: ProjectModeCount[] = await this.db
-            .select(`${SETTINGS_TABLE}.project_mode as mode`)
+            .select(
+                this.db.raw(
+                    `COALESCE(${SETTINGS_TABLE}.project_mode, 'open') as mode`,
+                ),
+            )
             .count(`${TABLE}.id as count`)
             .from(`${TABLE}`)
             .join(
@@ -567,7 +571,9 @@ class ProjectStore implements IProjectStore {
                 `${TABLE}.id`,
                 `${SETTINGS_TABLE}.project`,
             )
-            .groupBy(`${SETTINGS_TABLE}.project_mode`);
+            .groupBy(
+                this.db.raw(`COALESCE(${SETTINGS_TABLE}.project_mode, 'open')`),
+            );
         return result.map(this.mapProjectModeCount);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/lib/features/instance-stats/instance-stats-service.ts b/src/lib/features/instance-stats/instance-stats-service.ts
index 26631e84ba..9cce8af42c 100644
--- a/src/lib/features/instance-stats/instance-stats-service.ts
+++ b/src/lib/features/instance-stats/instance-stats-service.ts
@@ -48,9 +48,10 @@ export interface InstanceStats {
     activeUsers: Awaited<ReturnType<GetActiveUsers>>;
 }
 
-export interface InstanceStatsSigned extends InstanceStats {
+export type InstanceStatsSigned = Omit<InstanceStats, 'projects'> & {
+    projects: number;
     sum: string;
-}
+};
 
 export class InstanceStatsService {
     private logger: Logger;
@@ -280,10 +281,13 @@ export class InstanceStatsService {
 
     async getSignedStats(): Promise<InstanceStatsSigned> {
         const instanceStats = await this.getStats();
+        const totalProjects = instanceStats.projects
+            .map((p) => p.count)
+            .reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0);
 
         const sum = sha256(
-            `${instanceStats.instanceId}${instanceStats.users}${instanceStats.featureToggles}${instanceStats.projects}${instanceStats.roles}${instanceStats.groups}${instanceStats.environments}${instanceStats.segments}`,
+            `${instanceStats.instanceId}${instanceStats.users}${instanceStats.featureToggles}${totalProjects}${instanceStats.roles}${instanceStats.groups}${instanceStats.environments}${instanceStats.segments}`,
         );
-        return { ...instanceStats, sum };
+        return { ...instanceStats, sum, projects: totalProjects };
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/routes/admin-api/instance-admin.ts b/src/lib/routes/admin-api/instance-admin.ts
index 030cc848f1..9b8a343e75 100644
--- a/src/lib/routes/admin-api/instance-admin.ts
+++ b/src/lib/routes/admin-api/instance-admin.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import Controller from '../controller';
 import { NONE } from '../../types/permissions';
 import { UiConfigSchema } from '../../openapi/spec/ui-config-schema';
 import {
-    InstanceStats,
     InstanceStatsService,
     InstanceStatsSigned,
 } from '../../features/instance-stats/instance-stats-service';
@@ -97,11 +96,7 @@ class InstanceAdminController extends Controller {
             featureToggles: 29,
             groups: 3,
             instanceId: 'ed3861ae-78f9-4e8c-8e57-b57efc15f82b',
-            projects: [
-                { mode: 'open', count: 5 },
-                { mode: 'protected', count: 2 },
-                { mode: 'private', count: 1 },
-            ],
+            projects: 4,
             roles: 5,
             customRootRoles: 2,
             customRootRolesInUse: 1,
@@ -123,7 +118,7 @@ class InstanceAdminController extends Controller {
 
     async getStatistics(
         req: AuthedRequest,
-        res: Response<InstanceStats>,
+        res: Response<InstanceStatsSigned>,
     ): Promise<void> {
         const instanceStats = await this.instanceStatsService.getSignedStats();
         res.json(instanceStats);