diff --git a/forge/db/controllers/Project.js b/forge/db/controllers/Project.js
index bb1e872a64..77f46d44ee 100644
--- a/forge/db/controllers/Project.js
+++ b/forge/db/controllers/Project.js
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ module.exports = {
         const moduleList = result.palette?.modules || await app.db.controllers.StorageSettings.getProjectModules(project) || []
         const modules = {}
         moduleList.forEach(module => {
-            modules[module.name] = module.version
+            modules[module.name] = module.version || '*'
         })
         // ensure email alert settings for resources have a value that matches
         // what we show in the UI when no value is set in the DB
diff --git a/forge/routes/logging/index.js b/forge/routes/logging/index.js
index ad0b3497f3..4c35d0a656 100644
--- a/forge/routes/logging/index.js
+++ b/forge/routes/logging/index.js
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ module.exports = async function (app) {
 
         // handle some special cases: install/remove modules
         if (event === 'nodes.install' && !error) {
-            await app.db.controllers.Project.addProjectModule(request.project, auditEvent.module, auditEvent.version)
+            await app.db.controllers.Project.addProjectModule(request.project, auditEvent.module, auditEvent.version || '*')
         } else if (event === 'nodes.remove' && !error) {
             await app.db.controllers.Project.removeProjectModule(request.project, auditEvent.module)
         } else if (event === 'modules.install' && !error) {
diff --git a/test/unit/forge/db/controllers/Project_spec.js b/test/unit/forge/db/controllers/Project_spec.js
index 131f026d3f..7a4a27dad1 100644
--- a/test/unit/forge/db/controllers/Project_spec.js
+++ b/test/unit/forge/db/controllers/Project_spec.js
@@ -195,6 +195,27 @@ describe('Project controller', function () {
             result.palette.modules.should.have.property('node-red-node-ping', '0.3.3') // unchanged (still has project value)
             result.palette.modules.should.not.have.property('node-red-node-badwords') // template item NOT merged into project settings
         })
+        it('defaults a module saved without a version to any version in runtime settings', async function () {
+            const project = await app.db.models.Project.create({
+                name: 'testProject-001b',
+                type: '',
+                url: ''
+            })
+            await project.updateSetting('settings', {
+                palette: {
+                    modules: [
+                        { name: 'node-red-node-random', version: '1.2.3', local: true },
+                        { name: '@flowfuse-certified-nodes/redis', local: true }
+                    ]
+                }
+            })
+
+            const reloadedProject = await app.db.models.Project.byId(project.id)
+            const result = await app.db.controllers.Project.getRuntimeSettings(reloadedProject)
+
+            result.palette.modules.should.have.property('node-red-node-random', '1.2.3')
+            result.palette.modules.should.have.property('@flowfuse-certified-nodes/redis', '*')
+        })
     })
 
     describe('addProjectModule', function () {
diff --git a/test/unit/forge/routes/logging/index_spec.js b/test/unit/forge/routes/logging/index_spec.js
index 9991b67563..0b5d068554 100644
--- a/test/unit/forge/routes/logging/index_spec.js
+++ b/test/unit/forge/routes/logging/index_spec.js
@@ -142,6 +142,22 @@ describe('Logging API', function () {
             args[2].should.equal('0.4.0')
         })
 
+        it('Adds module with any version to instance settings for nodes.install event without a version', async function () {
+            const url = `/logging/${TestObjects.project1.id}/audit`
+            const response = await app.inject({
+                method: 'POST',
+                url,
+                headers: {
+                    authorization: `Bearer ${TestObjects.tokens.project1}`
+                },
+                payload: { event: 'nodes.install', module: '@flowfuse/unversioned', path: '/nodes' }
+            })
+            response.should.have.property('statusCode', 200)
+            const args = app.db.controllers.Project.addProjectModule.lastCall.args
+            args[1].should.equal('@flowfuse/unversioned')
+            args[2].should.equal('*')
+        })
+
         it('Does not add module to instance settings for nodes.install event with error', async function () {
             const url = `/logging/${TestObjects.project1.id}/audit`
             const response = await app.inject({