diff --git a/src/rpdk/core/project.py b/src/rpdk/core/project.py
index 37b8af90..81a85b68 100644
--- a/src/rpdk/core/project.py
+++ b/src/rpdk/core/project.py
@@ -292,25 +292,19 @@ def load_settings(self):
                 f"Project file '{self.settings_path}' exceeds maximum length of 10 KiB."
             )
         # validate protocol version, if specified
-        try:
-            settings = raw_settings["settings"]
-            if "protocolVersion" in settings:
-                protocol_version = settings["protocolVersion"]
-                if protocol_version not in PROTOCOL_VERSION_VALUES:
-                    raise InvalidProjectError(
-                        f"Invalid 'protocolVersion' settings in '{self.settings_path}"
-                    )
-            else:
-                LOG.warning(
-                    "No protovolVersion found: this will default to version 1.0.0 during registration. "
-                    "Please consider upgrading to CFN-CLI 2.0 following the guide: "
-                    "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cloudformation-cli/latest/userguide/what-is-cloudformation-cli.html"
+        if "settings" in raw_settings and "protocolVersion" in raw_settings["settings"]:
+            protocol_version = raw_settings["settings"]["protocolVersion"]
+            if protocol_version not in PROTOCOL_VERSION_VALUES:
+                raise InvalidProjectError(
+                    f"Invalid 'protocolVersion' settings in '{self.settings_path}"
                 )
-        except KeyError as e:
-            self._raise_invalid_project(
-                f"Error extracting protocol version from '{self.settings_path}'", e
+        else:
+            LOG.warning(
+                "No protovolVersion found: this will default to version 1.0.0 during registration. "
+                "Please consider upgrading to CFN-CLI 2.0 following the guide: "
+                "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cloudformation-cli/latest/userguide/what-is-cloudformation-cli.html"
             )
-
+        
         # backward compatible
         if "artifact_type" not in raw_settings:
             raw_settings["artifact_type"] = ARTIFACT_TYPE_RESOURCE
diff --git a/tests/test_project.py b/tests/test_project.py
index 90d5dfa5..68bfe681 100644
--- a/tests/test_project.py
+++ b/tests/test_project.py
@@ -173,6 +173,32 @@ def test_load_settings_invalid_hooks_settings(project):
     mock_open.assert_called_once_with("r", encoding="utf-8")
 
 
+def test_load_settings_invalid_protocol_version(project):
+    with patch_settings(project, '{"settings": {"protocolVersion": "3.0.0"}}') as mock_open:
+        with pytest.raises(InvalidProjectError):
+            project.load_settings()
+    mock_open.assert_called_once_with("r", encoding="utf-8")
+
+
+def test_load_settings_missing_protocol_version(project):
+    plugin = object()
+    data = json.dumps(
+        {
+            "artifact_type": "MODULE",
+            "typeName": MODULE_TYPE_NAME,
+            "settings": {}
+        }
+    )
+    patch_load = patch(
+        "rpdk.core.project.load_plugin", autospec=True, return_value=plugin
+    )
+
+    with patch_settings(project, data) as mock_open, patch_load as mock_load:
+        project.load_settings()
+    
+    assert project.settings == {}
+
+
 def test_load_settings_valid_json_for_resource(project):
     plugin = object()
     data = json.dumps(
@@ -292,6 +318,59 @@ def test_load_settings_valid_json_for_hook(project):
     assert project.settings == {}
 
 
+def test_load_settings_valid_protocol_version(project):
+    plugin = object()
+    data = json.dumps(
+        {
+            "artifact_type": "MODULE",
+            "typeName": MODULE_TYPE_NAME,
+            "settings": {
+                "protocolVersion": "2.0.0"
+            }
+        }
+    )
+    patch_load = patch(
+        "rpdk.core.project.load_plugin", autospec=True, return_value=plugin
+    )
+
+    with patch_settings(project, data) as mock_open, patch_load as mock_load:
+        project.load_settings()
+
+    mock_open.assert_called_once_with("r", encoding="utf-8")
+    mock_load.assert_not_called()
+    assert project.type_info == ("AWS", "Color", "Red", "MODULE")
+    assert project.type_name == MODULE_TYPE_NAME
+    assert project.language is None
+    assert project.artifact_type == ARTIFACT_TYPE_MODULE
+    assert project._plugin is None
+    assert project.settings == {"protocolVersion": "2.0.0"}
+
+
+def test_load_settings_missing_settings(project):
+    plugin = object()
+    data = json.dumps(
+        {
+            "artifact_type": "MODULE",
+            "typeName": MODULE_TYPE_NAME,
+        }
+    )
+    patch_load = patch(
+        "rpdk.core.project.load_plugin", autospec=True, return_value=plugin
+    )
+
+    with patch_settings(project, data) as mock_open, patch_load as mock_load:
+        project.load_settings()
+
+    mock_open.assert_called_once_with("r", encoding="utf-8")
+    mock_load.assert_not_called()
+    assert project.type_info == ("AWS", "Color", "Red", "MODULE")
+    assert project.type_name == MODULE_TYPE_NAME
+    assert project.language is None
+    assert project.artifact_type == ARTIFACT_TYPE_MODULE
+    assert project._plugin is None
+    assert project.settings == {}
+
+
 def test_load_schema_settings_not_loaded(project):
     with pytest.raises(InternalError):
         project.load_schema()