diff --git a/migrations/20210411_drop_migrations_table.go b/migrations/20210411_drop_migrations_table.go
index 2133dec..711f872 100644
--- a/migrations/20210411_drop_migrations_table.go
+++ b/migrations/20210411_drop_migrations_table.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ func init() {
 	f := migrationFunc{
 		name: name,
 		f: func(db *gorm.DB, cfg *config.Config) error {
-			if err := db.Migrator().DropTable("gorp_migrations"); err != nil {
+			if err := db.Migrator().DropTable("gorp_migrations"); err == nil {
 				logbuch.Info("dropped table 'gorp_migrations'")
 			}
 			return nil
diff --git a/migrations/20210806_remove_persisted_project_labels.go b/migrations/20210806_remove_persisted_project_labels.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5af6ced
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/20210806_remove_persisted_project_labels.go
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+package migrations
+
+import (
+	"github.com/emvi/logbuch"
+	"github.com/muety/wakapi/config"
+	"github.com/muety/wakapi/models"
+	"gorm.io/gorm"
+)
+
+func init() {
+	const name = "20210806-remove_persisted_project_labels"
+	f := migrationFunc{
+		name: name,
+		f: func(db *gorm.DB, cfg *config.Config) error {
+			condition := "key = ?"
+			if cfg.Db.Dialect == config.SQLDialectMysql {
+				condition = "`key` = ?"
+			}
+
+			lookupResult := db.Where(condition, name).First(&models.KeyStringValue{})
+			if lookupResult.Error == nil && lookupResult.RowsAffected > 0 {
+				logbuch.Info("no need to migrate '%s'", name)
+				return nil
+			}
+
+			rawDb, err := db.DB()
+			if err != nil {
+				logbuch.Error("failed to retrieve raw sql db instance")
+				return err
+			}
+			if _, err := rawDb.Exec("delete from summary_items where type = ?", models.SummaryLabel); err != nil {
+				logbuch.Error("failed to delete project label summary items")
+				return err
+			}
+			logbuch.Info("successfully deleted project label summary items")
+
+			if err := db.Create(&models.KeyStringValue{
+				Key:   name,
+				Value: "done",
+			}).Error; err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			return nil
+		},
+	}
+
+	registerPostMigration(f)
+}
diff --git a/models/summary.go b/models/summary.go
index 67c83d8..8db9f68 100644
--- a/models/summary.go
+++ b/models/summary.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ type Summary struct {
 	Editors          SummaryItems `json:"editors" gorm:"constraint:OnUpdate:CASCADE,OnDelete:CASCADE"`
 	OperatingSystems SummaryItems `json:"operating_systems" gorm:"constraint:OnUpdate:CASCADE,OnDelete:CASCADE"`
 	Machines         SummaryItems `json:"machines" gorm:"constraint:OnUpdate:CASCADE,OnDelete:CASCADE"`
-	Labels           SummaryItems `json:"labels" gorm:"constraint:OnUpdate:CASCADE,OnDelete:CASCADE"`
+	Labels           SummaryItems `json:"labels" gorm:"-"` // labels are not persisted, but calculated at runtime, i.e. when summary is retrieved
 }
 
 type SummaryItems []*SummaryItem
diff --git a/repositories/summary.go b/repositories/summary.go
index 3b09426..01dc61a 100644
--- a/repositories/summary.go
+++ b/repositories/summary.go
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ func (r *SummaryRepository) GetAll() ([]*models.Summary, error) {
 		Preload("Editors", "type = ?", models.SummaryEditor).
 		Preload("OperatingSystems", "type = ?", models.SummaryOS).
 		Preload("Machines", "type = ?", models.SummaryMachine).
-		Preload("Labels", "type = ?", models.SummaryLabel).
 		Find(&summaries).Error; err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -49,7 +48,6 @@ func (r *SummaryRepository) GetByUserWithin(user *models.User, from, to time.Tim
 		Preload("Editors", "type = ?", models.SummaryEditor).
 		Preload("OperatingSystems", "type = ?", models.SummaryOS).
 		Preload("Machines", "type = ?", models.SummaryMachine).
-		Preload("Labels", "type = ?", models.SummaryLabel).
 		Find(&summaries).Error; err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/services/summary.go b/services/summary.go
index a0005e2..524f16d 100644
--- a/services/summary.go
+++ b/services/summary.go
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ func (srv *SummaryService) Retrieve(from, to time.Time, user *models.User) (*mod
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	summary = srv.withProjectLabels(summary)
 
 	return summary.Sorted(), nil
 }
diff --git a/views/settings.tpl.html b/views/settings.tpl.html
index 1e0fab0..3be74b0 100644
--- a/views/settings.tpl.html
+++ b/views/settings.tpl.html
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@
             <div class="w-full" id="project-labels">
                 <div class="text-gray-300 text-sm mb-4 mt-6">
                     You can assign labels (aka. tags) to projects to group them together, e.g. by <span class="inline-block mb-1 text-gray-500 italic">private</span> and <span
-                        class="inline-block mb-1 text-gray-500 italic">work</span>. Please note that labels are only applied to new data, not to existing summaries in retrospect. To label historic data, you will need to clear and regenerate your summaries (see down below).
+                        class="inline-block mb-1 text-gray-500 italic">work</span>.
                 </div>
 
                 {{ if .Labels }}