diff --git a/src/js/components/BentoAppRouter.tsx b/src/js/components/BentoAppRouter.tsx
index 8a2e313d..ac13d523 100644
--- a/src/js/components/BentoAppRouter.tsx
+++ b/src/js/components/BentoAppRouter.tsx
@@ -33,13 +33,13 @@ const ScopedRoute = () => {
   const { projectId, datasetId } = useParams();
   const dispatch = useAppDispatch();
   const navigate = useNavigate();
-  const { selectedScope, projects, projectsStatus } = useMetadata();
+  const { selectedScope, projectsByID, projectsStatus } = useMetadata();
 
   useEffect(() => {
     if (WAITING_STATES.includes(projectsStatus)) return; // Wait for projects to load first
 
     // Update selectedScope based on URL parameters
-    const valid = validProjectDataset(projects, { project: projectId, dataset: datasetId });
+    const valid = validProjectDataset(projectsByID, { project: projectId, dataset: datasetId });
 
     // Don't change the scope object if the scope value is the same, otherwise it'll trigger needless re-renders.
     if (scopeEqual(selectedScope.scope, valid.scope)) {
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ const ScopedRoute = () => {
     }
     const newPathString = '/' + newPath.join('/');
     navigate(newPathString, { replace: true });
-  }, [projects, projectsStatus, projectId, datasetId, dispatch, navigate, selectedScope]);
+  }, [projectsByID, projectsStatus, projectId, datasetId, dispatch, navigate, selectedScope]);
 
   return <Outlet />;
 };
diff --git a/src/js/components/Scope/DatasetScopePicker.tsx b/src/js/components/Scope/DatasetScopePicker.tsx
index caa4a592..15f1fc96 100644
--- a/src/js/components/Scope/DatasetScopePicker.tsx
+++ b/src/js/components/Scope/DatasetScopePicker.tsx
@@ -51,7 +51,14 @@ const DatasetScopePicker = ({ parentProject }: DatasetScopePickerProps) => {
       <List
         dataSource={parentProject.datasets}
         bordered
-        renderItem={(d) => <Dataset parentProjectID={parentProject.identifier} dataset={d} format="list-item" />}
+        renderItem={(d) => (
+          <Dataset
+            parentProjectID={parentProject.identifier}
+            dataset={d}
+            format="list-item"
+            selected={scopeObj.dataset === d.identifier}
+          />
+        )}
       />
     </Space>
   );
diff --git a/src/js/features/metadata/metadata.store.ts b/src/js/features/metadata/metadata.store.ts
index b7824a37..cbe7c90c 100644
--- a/src/js/features/metadata/metadata.store.ts
+++ b/src/js/features/metadata/metadata.store.ts
@@ -19,12 +19,14 @@ export type DiscoveryScopeSelection = {
 
 export interface MetadataState {
   projects: Project[];
+  projectsByID: Record<string, Project>;
   projectsStatus: RequestStatus;
   selectedScope: DiscoveryScopeSelection;
 }
 
 const initialState: MetadataState = {
   projects: [],
+  projectsByID: {},
   projectsStatus: RequestStatus.Idle,
   selectedScope: {
     scope: { project: undefined, dataset: undefined },
@@ -66,7 +68,7 @@ const metadata = createSlice({
       // Defaults to the narrowest possible scope if there is only 1 project and only 1 dataset.
       // This forces Katsu to resolve the Discovery config with fallbacks from the bottom-up:
       // dataset -> project -> whole node
-      state.selectedScope = validProjectDataset(state.projects, payload);
+      state.selectedScope = validProjectDataset(state.projectsByID, payload);
     },
     markScopeSet: (state) => {
       state.selectedScope.scopeSet = true;
@@ -77,7 +79,9 @@ const metadata = createSlice({
       state.projectsStatus = RequestStatus.Pending;
     });
     builder.addCase(getProjects.fulfilled, (state, { payload }) => {
-      state.projects = payload?.results ?? [];
+      const projects = payload?.results ?? [];
+      state.projects = projects;
+      state.projectsByID = Object.fromEntries(projects.map((p) => [p.identifier, p]));
       state.projectsStatus = RequestStatus.Fulfilled;
     });
     builder.addCase(getProjects.rejected, (state) => {
diff --git a/src/js/utils/router.ts b/src/js/utils/router.ts
index fb098e30..64b4c3e2 100644
--- a/src/js/utils/router.ts
+++ b/src/js/utils/router.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@ export const getCurrentPage = (): string => {
   }
 };
 
-export const validProjectDataset = (projects: Project[], unvalidatedScope: DiscoveryScope): DiscoveryScopeSelection => {
+export const validProjectDataset = (
+  projectsByID: Record<string, Project>,
+  unvalidatedScope: DiscoveryScope
+): DiscoveryScopeSelection => {
   const { project, dataset } = unvalidatedScope;
 
   const valid: DiscoveryScopeSelection = {
@@ -22,12 +25,16 @@ export const validProjectDataset = (projects: Project[], unvalidatedScope: Disco
     fixedDataset: false,
   };
 
+  const projects = Object.values(projectsByID);
+
   if (projects.length === 1) {
-    // automatic project scoping if only 1
+    // Automatic project scoping if only 1
+    //  - if there is only one project, it should be auto-selected, since it contains the same set of data as the node.
     const defaultProj = projects[0];
     valid.scope.project = defaultProj.identifier;
     valid.fixedProject = true;
     if (defaultProj.datasets.length === 1) {
+      // TODO: only if the dataset-level permissions equal the project-level ones...
       // automatic dataset scoping if only 1
       valid.scope.dataset = defaultProj.datasets[0].identifier;
       valid.fixedDataset = true;
@@ -35,16 +42,13 @@ export const validProjectDataset = (projects: Project[], unvalidatedScope: Disco
       return valid;
     }
   }
-  if (project && projects.find(({ identifier }) => identifier === project)) {
+
+  const selectedProject: Project | undefined = project ? projectsByID[project] : undefined;
+
+  if (project && selectedProject) {
     valid.scope.project = project;
-    if (dataset) {
-      if (
-        projects
-          .find(({ identifier }) => identifier === project)!
-          .datasets.find(({ identifier }) => identifier === dataset)
-      ) {
-        valid.scope.dataset = dataset;
-      }
+    if (dataset && selectedProject.datasets.find(({ identifier }) => identifier === dataset)) {
+      valid.scope.dataset = dataset;
     }
   }
   return valid;