diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1c2d6500..1997a267 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ The following settings are applied based on the section marked as `is_default`.
     [default]
     git_exe = <Manually specify the path to the git executable. If left empty, the default git executable path will be used.>
     use_uv = <Use uv instead of pip for dependency installation.>
-    channel_url = https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ltdrdata/ComfyUI-Manager/main
+    default_cache_is_channel_url = <Determines whether to retrieve the DB designated as channel_url at startup>
     bypass_ssl = <Set to True if SSL errors occur to disable SSL.>
     file_logging = <Configure whether to create a log file used by ComfyUI-Manager.>
     windows_selector_event_loop_policy = <If an event loop error occurs on Windows, set this to True.>
diff --git a/glob/manager_core.py b/glob/manager_core.py
index cc6d56ed..5140f6a3 100644
--- a/glob/manager_core.py
+++ b/glob/manager_core.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ import manager_downloader
 from node_package import InstalledNodePackage
 
 
-version_code = [3, 17, 3]
+version_code = [3, 17, 4]
 version_str = f"V{version_code[0]}.{version_code[1]}" + (f'.{version_code[2]}' if len(version_code) > 2 else '')
 
 
@@ -1593,6 +1593,7 @@ def read_config():
                     'git_exe': default_conf['git_exe'] if 'git_exe' in default_conf else '',
                     'use_uv': default_conf['use_uv'].lower() == 'true' if 'use_uv' in default_conf else False,
                     'channel_url': default_conf['channel_url'] if 'channel_url' in default_conf else DEFAULT_CHANNEL,
+                    'default_cache_is_channel_url': default_conf['default_cache_is_channel_url'].lower() == 'true' if 'default_cache_is_channel_url' in default_conf else False,
                     'share_option': default_conf['share_option'] if 'share_option' in default_conf else 'all',
                     'bypass_ssl': default_conf['bypass_ssl'].lower() == 'true' if 'bypass_ssl' in default_conf else False,
                     'file_logging': default_conf['file_logging'].lower() == 'true' if 'file_logging' in default_conf else True,
@@ -1613,6 +1614,7 @@ def read_config():
             'git_exe': '',
             'use_uv': False,
             'channel_url': DEFAULT_CHANNEL,
+            'default_cache_is_channel_url': False,
             'share_option': 'all',
             'bypass_ssl': False,
             'file_logging': True,
diff --git a/glob/manager_server.py b/glob/manager_server.py
index 0fb1de16..e78a35a6 100644
--- a/glob/manager_server.py
+++ b/glob/manager_server.py
@@ -1578,7 +1578,11 @@ cm_global.register_api('cm.try-install-custom-node', confirm_try_install)
 async def default_cache_update():
     channel_url = core.get_config()['channel_url']
     async def get_cache(filename):
-        uri = f"{channel_url}/{filename}"
+        if core.get_config()['default_cache_is_channel_url']:
+            uri = f"{channel_url}/{filename}"
+        else:
+            uri = f"{core.DEFAULT_CHANNEL}/{filename}"
+
         cache_uri = str(manager_util.simple_hash(uri)) + '_' + filename
         cache_uri = os.path.join(manager_util.cache_dir, cache_uri)
 
diff --git a/glob/manager_util.py b/glob/manager_util.py
index 63d3c022..b613dfad 100644
--- a/glob/manager_util.py
+++ b/glob/manager_util.py
@@ -130,7 +130,12 @@ async def get_data(uri, silent=False):
             with open(uri, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
                 json_text = f.read()
 
-    json_obj = json.loads(json_text)
+    try:
+        json_obj = json.loads(json_text)
+    except Exception as e:
+        logging.error(f"[ComfyUI-Manager] An error occurred while fetching '{uri}': {e}")
+
+        return {}
 
     if not silent:
         print(" [DONE]")
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index bd7b5712..fccadd02 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [project]
 name = "comfyui-manager"
 description = "ComfyUI-Manager provides features to install and manage custom nodes for ComfyUI, as well as various functionalities to assist with ComfyUI."
-version = "3.17.3"
+version = "3.17.4"
 license = { file = "LICENSE.txt" }
 dependencies = ["GitPython", "PyGithub", "matrix-client==0.4.0", "transformers", "huggingface-hub>0.20", "typer", "rich", "typing-extensions"]