diff --git a/BuildMonitor.Test/AzureDevOpsStatusTests.cs b/BuildMonitor.Test/AzureDevOpsStatusTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b1fe08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/BuildMonitor.Test/AzureDevOpsStatusTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2023-2026 ktsu-dev contributors
+
+namespace ktsu.BuildMonitor.Test;
+
+using ktsu.Semantics.Strings;
+
+using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Covers the provider status after an Azure DevOps request. The request wrapper cleared the status
+/// after every action that returned normally, so an error the action reported itself, such as an
+/// owner that matches no project, was wiped straight away and never reached the status bar
+/// (ktsu-dev/BuildMonitor#304).
+/// </summary>
+[TestClass]
+public sealed class AzureDevOpsStatusTests
+{
+	private static readonly OwnerName MissingProject = "Missing".As<OwnerName>();
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public async Task AProjectNotFoundErrorSurvivesTheRequestThatReportedIt()
+	{
+		// Arrange
+		AzureDevOps provider = new();
+
+		// Act
+		await provider.MakeAzureDevOpsRequestAsync("test/missing", () =>
+		{
+			provider.ReportProjectNotFound(MissingProject);
+			return Task.CompletedTask;
+		}).ConfigureAwait(false);
+
+		// Assert
+		Assert.AreEqual(ProviderStatus.Error, provider.Status, "The not-found error should still be showing once the request returns");
+		Assert.Contains("'Missing' not found", provider.StatusMessage);
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public async Task ALaterSuccessfulRequestClearsTheError()
+	{
+		// Arrange
+		AzureDevOps provider = new();
+		await provider.MakeAzureDevOpsRequestAsync("test/missing", () =>
+		{
+			provider.ReportProjectNotFound(MissingProject);
+			return Task.CompletedTask;
+		}).ConfigureAwait(false);
+
+		// Act
+		await provider.MakeAzureDevOpsRequestAsync("test/ok", () => Task.CompletedTask).ConfigureAwait(false);
+
+		// Assert
+		Assert.AreEqual(ProviderStatus.OK, provider.Status);
+		Assert.AreEqual(string.Empty, provider.StatusMessage);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/BuildMonitor/BuildProvider.cs b/BuildMonitor/BuildProvider.cs
index b922fdc..dc652b6 100644
--- a/BuildMonitor/BuildProvider.cs
+++ b/BuildMonitor/BuildProvider.cs
@@ -110,6 +110,15 @@ protected BuildProviderToken Token
 	[JsonIgnore]
 	internal string StatusMessage { get; private set; } = string.Empty;
 
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Counts calls to <see cref="SetStatus"/>, so a request wrapper can tell whether the work it ran
+	/// reported a status of its own that a blanket <see cref="ClearStatus"/> would overwrite.
+	/// </summary>
+	[JsonIgnore]
+	internal int StatusSetCount => statusSetCount;
+
+	private int statusSetCount;
+
 	/// <summary>
 	/// When rate limited, the time when the rate limit resets.
 	/// </summary>
@@ -482,6 +491,7 @@ protected void SetStatus(ProviderStatus status, string message)
 		Status = status;
 		StatusMessage = message;
 		StatusTimestamp = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow;
+		_ = Interlocked.Increment(ref statusSetCount);
 	}
 
 	/// <summary>
diff --git a/BuildMonitor/Providers/AzureDevOps.cs b/BuildMonitor/Providers/AzureDevOps.cs
index 8fbbb95..b302803 100644
--- a/BuildMonitor/Providers/AzureDevOps.cs
+++ b/BuildMonitor/Providers/AzureDevOps.cs
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ await MakeAzureDevOpsRequestAsync($"{Name}/{owner.Name}", async () =>
 			if (!foundProject)
 			{
 				Log.Warning($"{Name}: Project '{owner.Name}' not found among {projectCount} projects in organization '{AccountId}'");
-				SetStatus(ProviderStatus.Error, $"Project '{owner.Name}' not found in organization '{AccountId}'");
+				ReportProjectNotFound(owner.Name);
 			}
 		}).ConfigureAwait(false);
 	}
@@ -398,6 +398,9 @@ private static void UpdateRunFromBuild(Run run, Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Build.W
 		BuildMonitor.QueueSaveAppData();
 	}
 
+	internal void ReportProjectNotFound(OwnerName ownerName) =>
+		SetStatus(ProviderStatus.Error, $"Project '{ownerName}' not found in organization '{AccountId}'");
+
 	internal async Task MakeAzureDevOpsRequestAsync(string name, Func<Task> action)
 	{
 		await RequestSemaphore.WaitAsync().ConfigureAwait(false);
@@ -412,8 +415,14 @@ internal async Task MakeAzureDevOpsRequestAsync(string name, Func<Task> action)
 
 			try
 			{
+				// Clear only when the action reported no status of its own. A project that matched no
+				// owner used to be reported and then cleared straight away (ktsu-dev/BuildMonitor#304).
+				int statusSetCountBefore = StatusSetCount;
 				await BuildMonitor.MakeRequestAsync(name, action).ConfigureAwait(false);
-				ClearStatus();
+				if (StatusSetCount == statusSetCountBefore)
+				{
+					ClearStatus();
+				}
 			}
 			catch (VssServiceResponseException ex) when (ex.HttpStatusCode == System.Net.HttpStatusCode.Unauthorized)
 			{