diff --git a/assets/js/src/hits.js b/assets/js/src/hits.js
index 249619ab..f88cb3b9 100644
--- a/assets/js/src/hits.js
+++ b/assets/js/src/hits.js
@@ -32,11 +32,8 @@ const Counter = (props) => {
   );
 };
 
-// don't continue if there isn't a span#meta-hits element on this page
-const wrapper = document.querySelector("div#meta-hits-counter");
-
-// page must have both span#meta-hits and canonical URL to enter
-if (typeof window !== "undefined" && wrapper) {
+// page must have a div#meta-hits-counter element to continue
+if (typeof window !== "undefined" && document.querySelector("div#meta-hits-counter")) {
   // use <link rel="canonical"> to deduce a consistent identifier for this page
   const canonical = canonicalUrl({
     normalize: true,
@@ -48,7 +45,7 @@ if (typeof window !== "undefined" && wrapper) {
   });
 
   // get path and strip beginning and ending forward slash
-  const slug = new URL(canonical).pathname.replace(/^\/|\/$/g, "");
+  const slug = new URL(canonical).pathname.replace(/^\/|\/$/g, "") || "/";
 
-  render(<Counter slug={slug} />, wrapper);
+  render(<Counter slug={slug} />, document.querySelector("div#meta-hits-counter"));
 }
diff --git a/assets/js/src/projects.js b/assets/js/src/projects.js
index 621951ff..ad218e54 100644
--- a/assets/js/src/projects.js
+++ b/assets/js/src/projects.js
@@ -99,9 +99,7 @@ const RepositoryCard = (repo) => (
 );
 
 // detect if these cards are wanted on this page (only /projects)
-const wrapper = document.querySelector("div#github-cards");
-
-if (typeof window !== "undefined" && wrapper) {
+if (typeof window !== "undefined" && document.querySelector("div#github-cards")) {
   // dayjs plugins: https://day.js.org/docs/en/plugin/loading-into-nodejs
   dayjs.extend(dayjsAdvancedFormat);
   dayjs.extend(dayjsLocalizedFormat);
@@ -111,5 +109,5 @@ if (typeof window !== "undefined" && wrapper) {
   // https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones#List
   dayjs.tz.setDefault("America/New_York");
 
-  render(<RepositoryGrid />, wrapper);
+  render(<RepositoryGrid />, document.querySelector("div#github-cards"));
 }