diff --git a/peppy/_version.py b/peppy/_version.py
index 08d7b23d..008bea4f 100644
--- a/peppy/_version.py
+++ b/peppy/_version.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = "0.40.3"
+__version__ = "0.40.4"
diff --git a/peppy/project.py b/peppy/project.py
index 42148d53..cc0fd7e9 100644
--- a/peppy/project.py
+++ b/peppy/project.py
@@ -242,6 +242,7 @@ def _from_dict(self, pep_dictionary) -> "Project":
             np.nan, ""
         )
         self[CONFIG_KEY] = pep_dictionary[CONFIG_KEY]
+        self[ORIGINAL_CONFIG_KEY] = deepcopy(self[CONFIG_KEY])
 
         if SUBSAMPLE_RAW_LIST_KEY in pep_dictionary:
             if pep_dictionary[SUBSAMPLE_RAW_LIST_KEY]: