diff --git a/radicle-cli/examples/rad-id-update-delete-field.md b/radicle-cli/examples/rad-id-update-delete-field.md
index 548cc9c6..968dd829 100644
--- a/radicle-cli/examples/rad-id-update-delete-field.md
+++ b/radicle-cli/examples/rad-id-update-delete-field.md
@@ -69,3 +69,10 @@ $ rad id update --title "Delete field" --description "Delete 'web'" --payload xy
    "threshold": 1
  }
 ```
+
+Note that we cannot delete mandatory fields:
+
+``` (fails)
+$ rad id update --title "Delete default branch" --payload xyz.radicle.project defaultBranch null
+✗ Error: failed to verify `xyz.radicle.project`, failed with json: missing field `defaultBranch`
+```
diff --git a/radicle-cli/src/commands/id.rs b/radicle-cli/src/commands/id.rs
index f2333ee8..95153beb 100644
--- a/radicle-cli/src/commands/id.rs
+++ b/radicle-cli/src/commands/id.rs
@@ -390,6 +390,11 @@ pub fn run(options: Options, ctx: impl term::Context) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
                         anyhow::bail!("payload `{id}` not found in identity document");
                     }
                 }
+                // Verify that the project payload can still be parsed into the
+                // `Project` type.
+                if let Err(e) = proposal.project() {
+                    anyhow::bail!("failed to verify `xyz.radicle.project`, failed with {e}",);
+                }
                 proposal
             };
             if proposal == current.doc {