diff --git a/astro.config.mjs b/astro.config.mjs
index 1ea3bee11..ee310e656 100644
--- a/astro.config.mjs
+++ b/astro.config.mjs
@@ -30,6 +30,6 @@ export default defineConfig({
       filter: shouldIndexPage,
       serialize: serializeSitemap,
     }),
-    critters(),
+    // critters(),
   ],
 });
diff --git a/src/lib/github.ts b/src/lib/github.ts
index 52eff3d6a..5cb614458 100644
--- a/src/lib/github.ts
+++ b/src/lib/github.ts
@@ -2,20 +2,33 @@ const formatter = Intl.NumberFormat('en-US', {
   notation: 'compact',
 });
 
+let starCount: number | undefined = undefined;
+
 export async function countStars(
   repo = 'kamranahmedse/developer-roadmap'
 ): Promise<number> {
-  const repoData = await fetch(`https://api.github.com/repos/${repo}`);
-  const json = await repoData.json();
+  if (starCount) {
+    return starCount;
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const repoData = await fetch(`https://api.github.com/repos/${repo}`);
+    const json = await repoData.json();
+
+    starCount = json.stargazers_count * 1;
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.log('Failed to fetch stars', e);
+    starCount = 224000;
+  }
 
-  return json.stargazers_count * 1;
+  return starCount;
 }
 
 export async function getFormattedStars(
   repo = 'kamranahmedse/developer-roadmap'
 ): Promise<string> {
   if (import.meta.env.DEV) {
-    return '223k';
+    return '224k';
   }
 
   const stars = await countStars(repo);