diff --git a/apps/dashboard/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb b/apps/dashboard/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
index e0add5aba8..b11c54cbcd 100644
--- a/apps/dashboard/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
+++ b/apps/dashboard/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 # The controller for project pages /dashboard/projects.
 class ProjectsController < ApplicationController
-
   # GET /projects/:id
   def show
     project_id = show_project_params[:id]
diff --git a/apps/dashboard/app/javascript/icon_picker.js b/apps/dashboard/app/javascript/icon_picker.js
index 703c658ddc..ccca950888 100644
--- a/apps/dashboard/app/javascript/icon_picker.js
+++ b/apps/dashboard/app/javascript/icon_picker.js
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ function picked(event) {
 
 function updateIcon(icon) {
   $(`#${ICON_SHOW_ID}`).attr("class", `fas fa-${icon} fa-fw app-icon`);
-  $(`#${ICON_SELECT_ID}`).val(`fas://${icon}`);
+  $(`#${ICON_SELECT_ID}`).val(`${icon}`);
 }
 
 function populateList() {
@@ -55,12 +55,8 @@ function addSearch(){
   $(`#${ICON_SELECT_ID}`).on('input change', (event) => {
     const currentValue = event.target.value;
 
-    // template picked and set value or copy & pasted full icon uri
-    if(currentValue.startsWith('fas://')) {
-      updateIcon(currentValue.replace('fas://', ''));
-    } else {
-      searchIcons(event);
-    }
+    updateIcon(currentValue);
+    searchIcons(event);
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/apps/dashboard/app/models/concerns/icon_with_uri.rb b/apps/dashboard/app/models/concerns/icon_with_uri.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6631376ec4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/dashboard/app/models/concerns/icon_with_uri.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+module IconWithUri
+  private
+
+  def add_icon_uri
+    if @icon.nil? || @icon.empty?
+      @icon = 'fas://cog'
+    elsif @icon !~ /(fa[bsrl]?):\/\/(.*)/
+      @icon = "fas://#{icon}"
+    end
+    @icon = @icon =~ /(fa[bsrl]?):\/\/(.*)/ || @icon.nil? || @icon.empty? ? @icon : "fas://#{@icon}"
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/dashboard/app/models/product.rb b/apps/dashboard/app/models/product.rb
index 0276c438eb..9ef7003ec3 100644
--- a/apps/dashboard/app/models/product.rb
+++ b/apps/dashboard/app/models/product.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 # interact with. Products are what app developers interact with.
 class Product
   include ActiveModel::Model
+  include IconWithUri
 
   delegate :passenger_rack_app?, :passenger_rails_app?, :passenger_app?, :can_run_bundle_install?, to: :app
 
@@ -163,6 +164,9 @@ def update(attributes)
     @description = attributes[:description] if attributes[:description]
     @icon = attributes[:icon] if attributes[:icon]
     @git_remote = attributes[:git_remote] if attributes[:git_remote]
+
+    add_icon_uri
+
     if self.valid?
       write_manifest
       set_git_remote
diff --git a/apps/dashboard/app/models/project.rb b/apps/dashboard/app/models/project.rb
index 5c60bf951e..0cf98fde7a 100644
--- a/apps/dashboard/app/models/project.rb
+++ b/apps/dashboard/app/models/project.rb
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 class Project
   include ActiveModel::Model
   include ActiveModel::Validations
+  include ActiveModel::Validations::Callbacks
+  include IconWithUri
 
   class << self
     def lookup_file
@@ -74,6 +76,8 @@ def templates
   validate :project_directory_exist, on: [:create]
   validate :project_template_invalid, on: [:create]
 
+  before_validation :add_icon_uri
+
   def initialize(attributes = {})
     @id = attributes[:id]
     update_attrs(attributes)
diff --git a/apps/dashboard/app/views/products/_form_icon.html.erb b/apps/dashboard/app/views/products/_form_icon.html.erb
index 68c09d9058..2ea3ef651c 100644
--- a/apps/dashboard/app/views/products/_form_icon.html.erb
+++ b/apps/dashboard/app/views/products/_form_icon.html.erb
@@ -18,12 +18,12 @@
       <%= fa_icon("cog", fa_style: "fas", id: "product_icon") %>
     </p>
     <div class="alert alert-warning">
-      <small>There is no icon specified for this app. Default is fas://cog.</small>
+      <small>There is no icon specified for this app. Default is cog.</small>
     </div>
   <% end %>
   <div class="field" id="icon_select_list">
-    <%= f.text_field :icon, placeholder: "fas://cog", id: "product_icon_select",
-        help: 'Use the list of icons below to choose from' %>
+    <%= f.text_field :icon, placeholder: "cog", id: "product_icon_select",
+        help: 'Use the list of icons below to choose from', value: product.app.manifest.icon.sub('fas://', '')  %>
 
 
     <div class="card">
diff --git a/apps/dashboard/app/views/projects/_form.html.erb b/apps/dashboard/app/views/projects/_form.html.erb
index 7ac3631fc4..3468dbe66d 100644
--- a/apps/dashboard/app/views/projects/_form.html.erb
+++ b/apps/dashboard/app/views/projects/_form.html.erb
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
         <div class="col">
           <div class="field">
           <%= javascript_include_tag 'icon_picker', nonce: true %>
-          <%= form.text_field :icon, placeholder: "fas://cog", id: "product_icon_select" %>
+          <%= form.text_field :icon, placeholder: "cog", id: "product_icon_select", value: @project.icon_class %>
             <% if @project.icon =~ /(fa[bsrl]?):\/\/(.*)/ %>
               <% icon = $2; style = $1 %>
               <p class="text-center">
diff --git a/apps/dashboard/test/models/projects_test.rb b/apps/dashboard/test/models/projects_test.rb
index 4510ea4c93..55cb10120c 100644
--- a/apps/dashboard/test/models/projects_test.rb
+++ b/apps/dashboard/test/models/projects_test.rb
@@ -23,12 +23,13 @@ class ProjectsTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
       assert_not project.errors[:name].empty?
 
       invalid_directory = Project.dataroot
-      project = Project.new({ name: 'test', icon: 'invalid_format', directory: invalid_directory.to_s,
+      invalid_icon = 'invalid_format'
+      project = Project.new({ name: 'test', icon: invalid_icon, directory: invalid_directory.to_s,
 template: '/invalid/template' })
 
       assert_not project.save
-      assert_equal 3, project.errors.size
-      assert_not project.errors[:icon].empty?
+      assert_equal 2, project.errors.size
+      assert_not_equal invalid_icon, project.icon 
       assert_not project.errors[:directory].empty?
       assert_not project.errors[:template].empty?
     end
@@ -218,9 +219,9 @@ class ProjectsTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
       project = create_project(projects_path)
 
       assert_not project.update({ name: nil, icon: nil })
-      assert_equal 2, project.errors.size
+      assert_equal 1, project.errors.size
       assert_not project.errors[:name].empty?
-      assert_not project.errors[:icon].empty?
+      assert_equal 'fas://cog', project.icon
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/apps/dashboard/test/system/project_manager_test.rb b/apps/dashboard/test/system/project_manager_test.rb
index 42e61cda4b..66c0c4b001 100644
--- a/apps/dashboard/test/system/project_manager_test.rb
+++ b/apps/dashboard/test/system/project_manager_test.rb
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ def add_auto_environment_variable(project_id, script_id, save: true)
       assert_equal 'my-test-project', find('#project_name').value
       assert_equal "#{dir}/projects/#{project_id}", find('#project_directory').value
       assert_equal 'test-description', find('#project_description').value
-      assert_equal 'fas://arrow-right', find('#product_icon_select').value
+      assert_equal 'arrow-right', find('#product_icon_select').value
       assert_selector '.btn.btn-default', text: 'Back'
     end
   end