diff --git a/src/sentry/integrations/api/serializers/rest_framework/data_forwarder.py b/src/sentry/integrations/api/serializers/rest_framework/data_forwarder.py
index 0105b9cd9011fb..137ea9165900ba 100644
--- a/src/sentry/integrations/api/serializers/rest_framework/data_forwarder.py
+++ b/src/sentry/integrations/api/serializers/rest_framework/data_forwarder.py
@@ -50,12 +50,14 @@ class DataForwarderSerializer(Serializer):
             (DataForwarderProviderSlug.SPLUNK, "Splunk"),
         ]
     )
-    config = serializers.DictField(child=serializers.CharField(allow_blank=False), default=dict)
+    config = serializers.DictField(child=serializers.CharField(allow_blank=True), default=dict)
     project_ids = serializers.ListField(
-        child=serializers.IntegerField(), allow_empty=True, required=True
+        child=serializers.IntegerField(), allow_empty=True, required=False, default=list
     )
 
     def validate_config(self, config) -> SQSConfig | SegmentConfig | SplunkConfig:
+        # Filter out empty string values (cleared optional fields)
+        config = {k: v for k, v in config.items() if v != ""}
         provider = self.initial_data.get("provider")
 
         if provider == DataForwarderProviderSlug.SQS:
@@ -210,12 +212,16 @@ def create(self, validated_data: Mapping[str, Any]) -> DataForwarder:
 
             # Enroll specified projects
             if project_ids:
-                for project_id in project_ids:
-                    DataForwarderProject.objects.create(
-                        data_forwarder=data_forwarder,
-                        project_id=project_id,
-                        is_enabled=False,
-                    )
+                DataForwarderProject.objects.bulk_create(
+                    [
+                        DataForwarderProject(
+                            data_forwarder=data_forwarder,
+                            project_id=project_id,
+                            is_enabled=True,
+                        )
+                        for project_id in project_ids
+                    ]
+                )
         return data_forwarder
 
     def update(self, instance: DataForwarder, validated_data: Mapping[str, Any]) -> DataForwarder:
diff --git a/tests/sentry/integrations/api/endpoints/test_data_forwarding.py b/tests/sentry/integrations/api/endpoints/test_data_forwarding.py
index 3c07f9964f195c..0616420ad2a5c0 100644
--- a/tests/sentry/integrations/api/endpoints/test_data_forwarding.py
+++ b/tests/sentry/integrations/api/endpoints/test_data_forwarding.py
@@ -346,14 +346,17 @@ def test_create_missing_config(self) -> None:
         response = self.get_error_response(self.organization.slug, status_code=400, **payload)
         assert "config" in str(response.data).lower()
 
-    def test_create_missing_project_ids(self) -> None:
+    def test_create_without_project_ids(self) -> None:
         payload = {
             "provider": DataForwarderProviderSlug.SEGMENT,
             "config": {"write_key": "test_key"},
         }
 
-        response = self.get_error_response(self.organization.slug, status_code=400, **payload)
-        assert "project_ids" in str(response.data).lower()
+        response = self.get_success_response(self.organization.slug, status_code=201, **payload)
+        assert response.data["provider"] == DataForwarderProviderSlug.SEGMENT
+
+        data_forwarder = DataForwarder.objects.get(id=response.data["id"])
+        assert data_forwarder.projects.count() == 0
 
     def test_create_sqs_fifo_queue_validation(self) -> None:
         payload = {
diff --git a/tests/sentry/integrations/api/serializers/rest_framework/test_data_forwarder.py b/tests/sentry/integrations/api/serializers/rest_framework/test_data_forwarder.py
index 5c23e479ea554f..64a5e037c4688a 100644
--- a/tests/sentry/integrations/api/serializers/rest_framework/test_data_forwarder.py
+++ b/tests/sentry/integrations/api/serializers/rest_framework/test_data_forwarder.py
@@ -69,17 +69,6 @@ def test_required_fields(self) -> None:
         assert not serializer.is_valid()
         assert "provider" in serializer.errors
 
-        # Missing project_ids
-        serializer = DataForwarderSerializer(
-            data={
-                "organization_id": self.organization.id,
-                "provider": DataForwarderProviderSlug.SEGMENT,
-                "config": {"write_key": "test_key"},
-            }
-        )
-        assert not serializer.is_valid()
-        assert "project_ids" in serializer.errors
-
     def test_provider_choice_validation(self) -> None:
         # Valid providers
         provider_configs = {
@@ -230,8 +219,8 @@ def test_sqs_config_validation_empty_credentials(self) -> None:
         )
         assert not serializer.is_valid()
         assert "config" in serializer.errors
-        config_errors = serializer.errors["config"]
-        assert "access_key" in config_errors or "secret_key" in config_errors
+        config_errors_str = str(serializer.errors["config"])
+        assert "access_key" in config_errors_str and "secret_key" in config_errors_str
 
     def test_sqs_config_validation_fifo_queue_without_message_group_id(self) -> None:
         config: dict[str, str] = {
@@ -419,8 +408,8 @@ def test_splunk_config_validation_empty_strings(self) -> None:
         )
         assert not serializer.is_valid()
         assert "config" in serializer.errors
-        config_errors = serializer.errors["config"]
-        assert "index" in config_errors or "source" in config_errors
+        config_errors_str = str(serializer.errors["config"])
+        assert "index" in config_errors_str and "source" in config_errors_str
 
     def test_splunk_config_validation_invalid_token_format(self) -> None:
         config: dict[str, str] = {