diff --git a/src/backend/YesChef.Api/Program.cs b/src/backend/YesChef.Api/Program.cs
index f423e82..371775e 100644
--- a/src/backend/YesChef.Api/Program.cs
+++ b/src/backend/YesChef.Api/Program.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using System.Security.Claims;
 using System.Text;
+using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
 using System.Threading.RateLimiting;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication.JwtBearer;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.RateLimiting;
@@ -20,6 +21,9 @@ using YesChef.Api.Features.Units;
 
 var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
 
+builder.Services.ConfigureHttpJsonOptions(o =>
+    o.SerializerOptions.Converters.Add(new JsonStringEnumConverter()));
+
 builder.Services.AddDbContext<YesChefDb>(options =>
     options.UseNpgsql(builder.Configuration.GetConnectionString("DefaultConnection")));
 
diff --git a/src/frontend/src/lib/units.svelte.ts b/src/frontend/src/lib/units.svelte.ts
index f28ae16..5435d12 100644
--- a/src/frontend/src/lib/units.svelte.ts
+++ b/src/frontend/src/lib/units.svelte.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { untrack } from 'svelte';
 import { api } from '$lib/api';
 
 export type UnitKind = 'Global' | 'Family';
@@ -24,7 +25,10 @@ let error = $state<string | null>(null);
 export const units = {
 	get all() {
 		if (cache === null && !loading) {
-			void load();
+			// Use untrack so the load() side-effect (which mutates $state) is
+			// not flagged as an illegal mutation when this getter is read inside
+			// a $derived expression.
+			untrack(() => void load());
 		}
 		return cache ?? [];
 	},