diff --git a/argocd/resource_argocd_project_test.go b/argocd/resource_argocd_project_test.go
index 1b9be29d..6cfb0a66 100644
--- a/argocd/resource_argocd_project_test.go
+++ b/argocd/resource_argocd_project_test.go
@@ -64,6 +64,26 @@ func TestAccArgoCDProject(t *testing.T) {
 					// TODO: check all possible attributes
 				),
 			},
+			{
+				Config: testAccArgoCDProjectSimpleWithoutOrphaned(name),
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttrSet(
+						"argocd_project.simple",
+						"metadata.0.uid",
+						// TODO: check all possible attributes
+					),
+				),
+			},
+			{
+				Config: testAccArgoCDProjectSimpleWithEmptyOrphaned(name),
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttrSet(
+						"argocd_project.simple",
+						"metadata.0.uid",
+						// TODO: check all possible attributes
+					),
+				),
+			},
 		},
 	})
 }
@@ -74,7 +94,6 @@ func TestAccArgoCDProject_tokensCoexistence(t *testing.T) {
 		ProviderFactories: testAccProviders,
 		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
 			{
-				ExpectNonEmptyPlan: true,
 				Config: testAccArgoCDProjectCoexistenceWithTokenResource(
 					"test-acc-"+acctest.RandString(10),
 					4,
@@ -229,6 +248,61 @@ resource "argocd_project" "simple" {
 	`, name)
 }
 
+func testAccArgoCDProjectSimpleWithoutOrphaned(name string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf(`
+  resource "argocd_project" "simple" {
+    metadata {
+      name      = "%s"
+      namespace = "argocd"
+      labels = {
+        acceptance = "true"
+      }
+      annotations = {
+        "this.is.a.really.long.nested.key" = "yes, really!"
+      }
+    }
+  
+    spec {
+      description  = "simple project"
+      source_repos = ["*"]
+  
+      destination {
+        name      = "anothercluster"
+        namespace = "bar"
+      }
+    }
+  }
+	`, name)
+}
+
+func testAccArgoCDProjectSimpleWithEmptyOrphaned(name string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf(`
+  resource "argocd_project" "simple" {
+    metadata {
+      name      = "%s"
+      namespace = "argocd"
+      labels = {
+        acceptance = "true"
+      }
+      annotations = {
+        "this.is.a.really.long.nested.key" = "yes, really!"
+      }
+    }
+  
+    spec {
+      description  = "simple project"
+      source_repos = ["*"]
+  
+      destination {
+        name      = "anothercluster"
+        namespace = "bar"
+      }
+      orphaned_resources { }
+    }
+  }
+	`, name)
+}
+
 func testAccArgoCDProjectCoexistenceWithTokenResource(name string, count int) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf(`
 resource "argocd_project" "coexistence" {
diff --git a/argocd/structure_project.go b/argocd/structure_project.go
index 6328e801..3e8efa4b 100644
--- a/argocd/structure_project.go
+++ b/argocd/structure_project.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package argocd
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+
 	application "github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2/pkg/apis/application/v1alpha1"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform-plugin-sdk/v2/helper/schema"
 	meta "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
@@ -63,16 +64,19 @@ func expandProjectSpec(d *schema.ResourceData) (
 		}
 	}
 	if v, ok := s["orphaned_resources"]; ok {
-		spec.OrphanedResources = &application.OrphanedResourcesMonitorSettings{}
 		orphanedResources := v.([]interface{})
 		if len(orphanedResources) > 0 {
-			if _warn, _ok := orphanedResources[0].(map[string]interface{})["warn"]; _ok {
-				warn := _warn.(bool)
-				spec.OrphanedResources.Warn = &warn
-			}
-			if _ignore, _ok := orphanedResources[0].(map[string]interface{})["ignore"]; _ok {
-				ignore := expandOrphanedResourcesIgnore(_ignore.(*schema.Set))
-				spec.OrphanedResources.Ignore = ignore
+			spec.OrphanedResources = &application.OrphanedResourcesMonitorSettings{}
+
+			if orphanedResources[0] != nil {
+				if _warn, _ok := orphanedResources[0].(map[string]interface{})["warn"]; _ok {
+					warn := _warn.(bool)
+					spec.OrphanedResources.Warn = &warn
+				}
+				if _ignore, _ok := orphanedResources[0].(map[string]interface{})["ignore"]; _ok {
+					ignore := expandOrphanedResourcesIgnore(_ignore.(*schema.Set))
+					spec.OrphanedResources.Ignore = ignore
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}