diff --git a/hypha/static_src/src/sass/apply/components/_activity-notifications.scss b/hypha/static_src/src/sass/apply/components/_activity-notifications.scss
index 74cb4494bcd71ad167f56042bf97a1743009d773..ba63b70b7e030c51d2330ba2ff35ea69d9897a85 100644
--- a/hypha/static_src/src/sass/apply/components/_activity-notifications.scss
+++ b/hypha/static_src/src/sass/apply/components/_activity-notifications.scss
@@ -44,8 +44,10 @@
             padding-right: 1em;
         }
 
-        .form__select {
-            margin-right: 1em;
+        .form {
+            &__select {
+                margin-right: 1em;
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/hypha/templates/base-apply.html b/hypha/templates/base-apply.html
index 27017d54bdd1a4ab9824409e5cc21481b1039cf0..ce30affbfe32ab0159909b4e437e530651f3c3f1 100644
--- a/hypha/templates/base-apply.html
+++ b/hypha/templates/base-apply.html
@@ -30,7 +30,9 @@
         <script src="{% static 'js/jquery.min.js' %}"></script>
         <script src="{% static 'js/js.cookie.min.js' %}"></script>
         <script src="{% static 'js/main-top.js' %}"></script>
+        {% if latest_notifications %}
         <script defer src="{% static 'js/apply/notifications.js' %}"></script>
+        {% endif %}
         {% if COOKIES_ACCEPTED and MATOMO_URL and MATOMO_SITEID %}
         {# we are only expecting strings, so make sure we escape the values #}
         <script>