diff --git a/.changeset/giant-bottles-eat.md b/.changeset/giant-bottles-eat.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d37343bfe4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/giant-bottles-eat.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-airbrake': patch
+---
+
+Fix a bug where API calls were being made and errors were being added to the snack bar when no project ID was present. This is a common use case for components that haven't added the Airbrake plugin annotation to their `catalog-info.yaml`.
diff --git a/plugins/airbrake/src/components/EntityAirbrakeWidget/EntityAirbrakeWidget.test.tsx b/plugins/airbrake/src/components/EntityAirbrakeWidget/EntityAirbrakeWidget.test.tsx
index ee14a17f9a..e8d09b5e65 100644
--- a/plugins/airbrake/src/components/EntityAirbrakeWidget/EntityAirbrakeWidget.test.tsx
+++ b/plugins/airbrake/src/components/EntityAirbrakeWidget/EntityAirbrakeWidget.test.tsx
@@ -18,23 +18,21 @@ import React from 'react';
 import { EntityAirbrakeWidget } from './EntityAirbrakeWidget';
 import exampleData from '../../api/mock/airbrakeGroupsApiMock.json';
 import {
-  MockErrorApi,
   renderInTestApp,
   setupRequestMockHandlers,
   TestApiProvider,
 } from '@backstage/test-utils';
-import { createEntity } from '../../api';
 import {
   airbrakeApiRef,
+  createEntity,
   localDiscoveryApi,
   MockAirbrakeApi,
   ProductionAirbrakeApi,
 } from '../../api';
-import { errorApiRef } from '@backstage/core-plugin-api';
 import { rest } from 'msw';
 import { setupServer } from 'msw/node';
 
-describe('EntityAirbrakeContent', () => {
+describe('EntityAirbrakeWidget', () => {
   const worker = setupServer();
   setupRequestMockHandlers(worker);
 
@@ -52,15 +50,20 @@ describe('EntityAirbrakeContent', () => {
     }
   });
 
-  it('states that the annotation is missing if no project ID annotation is provided', async () => {
+  it('states that the annotation is missing if no project ID annotation is provided but does not error', async () => {
     const widget = await renderInTestApp(
-      <TestApiProvider apis={[[airbrakeApiRef, new MockAirbrakeApi()]]}>
+      <TestApiProvider
+        apis={[[airbrakeApiRef, new ProductionAirbrakeApi(localDiscoveryApi)]]}
+      >
         <EntityAirbrakeWidget entity={createEntity()} />
       </TestApiProvider>,
     );
     await expect(
       widget.findByText('Missing Annotation'),
     ).resolves.toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(
+      widget.queryByText(/.*Failed fetching Airbrake groups.*/),
+    ).not.toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
   it('states that an error occurred if the API call fails', async () => {
@@ -72,14 +75,10 @@ describe('EntityAirbrakeContent', () => {
         },
       ),
     );
-    const mockErrorApi = new MockErrorApi({ collect: true });
 
     const widget = await renderInTestApp(
       <TestApiProvider
-        apis={[
-          [airbrakeApiRef, new ProductionAirbrakeApi(localDiscoveryApi)],
-          [errorApiRef, mockErrorApi],
-        ]}
+        apis={[[airbrakeApiRef, new ProductionAirbrakeApi(localDiscoveryApi)]]}
       >
         <EntityAirbrakeWidget entity={createEntity(123)} />
       </TestApiProvider>,
@@ -88,9 +87,10 @@ describe('EntityAirbrakeContent', () => {
     await expect(
       widget.findByText(/.*there was an issue communicating with Airbrake.*/),
     ).resolves.toBeInTheDocument();
-    expect(mockErrorApi.getErrors().length).toBe(1);
-    expect(mockErrorApi.getErrors()[0].error.message).toStrictEqual(
-      'Failed fetching Airbrake groups',
-    );
+    expect(
+      widget.getByRole('heading', {
+        name: /.*Failed fetching Airbrake groups.*/,
+      }),
+    ).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 });
diff --git a/plugins/airbrake/src/components/EntityAirbrakeWidget/EntityAirbrakeWidget.tsx b/plugins/airbrake/src/components/EntityAirbrakeWidget/EntityAirbrakeWidget.tsx
index b11116aeef..6c2e4b8686 100644
--- a/plugins/airbrake/src/components/EntityAirbrakeWidget/EntityAirbrakeWidget.tsx
+++ b/plugins/airbrake/src/components/EntityAirbrakeWidget/EntityAirbrakeWidget.tsx
@@ -14,10 +14,11 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 import { Entity } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
-import React, { useEffect } from 'react';
+import React from 'react';
 import { Grid, Typography } from '@material-ui/core';
 import {
   EmptyState,
+  ErrorPanel,
   InfoCard,
   MissingAnnotationEmptyState,
   Progress,
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ import {
 import hash from 'object-hash';
 import { makeStyles } from '@material-ui/core/styles';
 import { BackstageTheme } from '@backstage/theme';
-import { ErrorApi, errorApiRef, useApi } from '@backstage/core-plugin-api';
+import { useApi } from '@backstage/core-plugin-api';
 import { airbrakeApiRef } from '../../api';
 import useAsync from 'react-use/lib/useAsync';
 import { AIRBRAKE_PROJECT_ID_ANNOTATION, useProjectId } from '../useProjectId';
@@ -40,55 +41,50 @@ export const EntityAirbrakeWidget = ({ entity }: { entity: Entity }) => {
   const classes = useStyles();
 
   const projectId = useProjectId(entity);
-  const errorApi = useApi<ErrorApi>(errorApiRef);
   const airbrakeApi = useApi(airbrakeApiRef);
 
-  const { loading, value, error } = useAsync(
-    () => airbrakeApi.fetchGroups(projectId),
-    [airbrakeApi, projectId],
-  );
-
-  useEffect(() => {
-    if (error) {
-      errorApi.post(error);
+  const { loading, value, error } = useAsync(() => {
+    if (!projectId) {
+      return Promise.resolve(undefined);
     }
-  }, [error, errorApi]);
 
-  if (loading || !projectId || error) {
+    return airbrakeApi.fetchGroups(projectId);
+  }, [airbrakeApi, projectId]);
+
+  if (!projectId) {
     return (
-      <InfoCard title="Airbrake groups" variant="gridItem">
-        {loading && <Progress />}
-
-        {!loading && !projectId && (
-          <MissingAnnotationEmptyState
-            annotation={AIRBRAKE_PROJECT_ID_ANNOTATION}
-          />
-        )}
-
-        {!loading && error && (
-          <EmptyState
-            missing="info"
-            title="No information to display"
-            description={`There is no Airbrake project with id '${projectId}' or there was an issue communicating with Airbrake.`}
-          />
-        )}
-      </InfoCard>
+      <MissingAnnotationEmptyState
+        annotation={AIRBRAKE_PROJECT_ID_ANNOTATION}
+      />
+    );
+  } else if (loading) {
+    return <Progress />;
+  } else if (value) {
+    return (
+      <Grid container spacing={3} direction="column">
+        {value.groups?.map(group => (
+          <Grid item key={group.id}>
+            {group.errors?.map(groupError => (
+              <InfoCard title={groupError.type} key={hash(groupError)}>
+                <Typography variant="body1" className={classes.multilineText}>
+                  {groupError.message}
+                </Typography>
+              </InfoCard>
+            ))}
+          </Grid>
+        ))}
+      </Grid>
     );
   }
 
   return (
-    <Grid container spacing={3} direction="column">
-      {value?.groups?.map(group => (
-        <Grid item key={group.id}>
-          {group.errors?.map(groupError => (
-            <InfoCard title={groupError.type} key={hash(groupError)}>
-              <Typography variant="body1" className={classes.multilineText}>
-                {groupError.message}
-              </Typography>
-            </InfoCard>
-          ))}
-        </Grid>
-      ))}
-    </Grid>
+    <>
+      {error && <ErrorPanel error={error} />}
+      <EmptyState
+        missing="info"
+        title="No information to display"
+        description={`There is no Airbrake project with id '${projectId}' or there was an issue communicating with Airbrake.`}
+      />
+    </>
   );
 };