diff --git a/app/models/project.rb b/app/models/project.rb
index 7a2bc8b78b3..58b10662ff0 100644
--- a/app/models/project.rb
+++ b/app/models/project.rb
@@ -330,8 +330,8 @@ class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
   validates :star_count, numericality: { greater_than_or_equal_to: 0 }
   validate :check_limit, on: :create
   validate :check_repository_path_availability, on: :update, if: ->(project) { project.renamed? }
-  validate :visibility_level_allowed_by_group
-  validate :visibility_level_allowed_as_fork
+  validate :visibility_level_allowed_by_group, if: -> { changes.has_key?(:visibility_level) }
+  validate :visibility_level_allowed_as_fork, if: -> { changes.has_key?(:visibility_level) }
   validate :check_wiki_path_conflict
   validate :validate_pages_https_only, if: -> { changes.has_key?(:pages_https_only) }
   validates :repository_storage,
diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/sh-skip-validation-visibility-changed.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/sh-skip-validation-visibility-changed.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..405be698b2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/sh-skip-validation-visibility-changed.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: Only validate project visibility when it has changed
+merge_request: 24142
+author:
+type: fixed
diff --git a/spec/models/project_spec.rb b/spec/models/project_spec.rb
index 2e95d35e134..2170ef1f155 100644
--- a/spec/models/project_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/project_spec.rb
@@ -2963,6 +2963,24 @@ describe Project do
     end
   end
 
+  describe '#update' do
+    let(:project) { create(:project) }
+
+    it 'validates the visibility' do
+      expect(project).to receive(:visibility_level_allowed_as_fork).and_call_original
+      expect(project).to receive(:visibility_level_allowed_by_group).and_call_original
+
+      project.update(visibility_level: Gitlab::VisibilityLevel::INTERNAL)
+    end
+
+    it 'does not validate the visibility' do
+      expect(project).not_to receive(:visibility_level_allowed_as_fork).and_call_original
+      expect(project).not_to receive(:visibility_level_allowed_by_group).and_call_original
+
+      project.update(updated_at: Time.now)
+    end
+  end
+
   describe '#last_repository_updated_at' do
     it 'sets to created_at upon creation' do
       project = create(:project, created_at: 2.hours.ago)
@@ -3189,6 +3207,13 @@ describe Project do
         expect { project.migrate_to_hashed_storage! }.to change { project.repository_read_only }.to(true)
       end
 
+      it 'does not validate project visibility' do
+        expect(project).not_to receive(:visibility_level_allowed_as_fork)
+        expect(project).not_to receive(:visibility_level_allowed_by_group)
+
+        project.migrate_to_hashed_storage!
+      end
+
       it 'schedules ProjectMigrateHashedStorageWorker with delayed start when the project repo is in use' do
         Gitlab::ReferenceCounter.new(project.gl_repository(is_wiki: false)).increase