diff --git a/app/helpers/projects_helper.rb b/app/helpers/projects_helper.rb
index fd85217debfcfc51749217cc1124039c42d1bc9b..98bbcfaaba5f049b4e6b1ebb1ba6f8f9cc5b3e5e 100644
--- a/app/helpers/projects_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/projects_helper.rb
@@ -158,8 +158,7 @@ module ProjectsHelper
 
   def project_list_cache_key(project)
     key = [
-      'parent/' + project.namespace.parent_full_path,
-      project.namespace.cache_key,
+      project.route.cache_key,
       project.cache_key,
       controller.controller_name,
       controller.action_name,
diff --git a/app/models/namespace.rb b/app/models/namespace.rb
index cf82b56cc7a9e13f142a15c07c84a2f165ab7508..a7ede5e3b9e5e65fea43400121963117606b77c1 100644
--- a/app/models/namespace.rb
+++ b/app/models/namespace.rb
@@ -224,10 +224,6 @@ class Namespace < ActiveRecord::Base
     parent.present?
   end
 
-  def parent_full_path
-    full_path.split('/')[0...-1].join('/')
-  end
-
   private
 
   def repository_storage_paths
diff --git a/app/models/route.rb b/app/models/route.rb
index 12a7fa3d01bfb859c144879eff2cc7d1585b81e3..be77b8b51a5389232192804cca8d74358d5f7da7 100644
--- a/app/models/route.rb
+++ b/app/models/route.rb
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class Route < ActiveRecord::Base
         old_path = route.path
 
         # Callbacks must be run manually
-        route.update_columns(attributes)
+        route.update_columns(attributes.merge(updated_at: Time.now))
 
         # We are not calling route.delete_conflicting_redirects here, in hopes
         # of avoiding deadlocks. The parent (self, in this method) already
diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/dz-project-list-cache-key.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/dz-project-list-cache-key.yml
index 79d89b1c509b38c0db8e51933bbde8c36d3c0344..9e4826e686a73d8f7a1bdabba7b438deaa62c2dd 100644
--- a/changelogs/unreleased/dz-project-list-cache-key.yml
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/dz-project-list-cache-key.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 ---
-title: Add parent full path to project list cache key
+title: Use route.cache_key for project list cache key
 merge_request: 11325
 author:
diff --git a/spec/helpers/projects_helper_spec.rb b/spec/helpers/projects_helper_spec.rb
index ceabf0caf31e5fbf7cc5821c8b377bba81a083c1..54c5ba57bdf93795ea09e0e29f2470596a765032 100644
--- a/spec/helpers/projects_helper_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/helpers/projects_helper_spec.rb
@@ -66,14 +66,8 @@ describe ProjectsHelper do
   describe "#project_list_cache_key", redis: true do
     let(:project) { create(:project) }
 
-    it "includes the namespace" do
-      expect(helper.project_list_cache_key(project)).to include(project.namespace.cache_key)
-    end
-
-    it "includes the parent namespace in case of subgroup" do
-      project = create(:project, group: create(:group, :nested))
-
-      expect(helper.project_list_cache_key(project)).to include("parent/#{project.namespace.parent.path}")
+    it "includes the route" do
+      expect(helper.project_list_cache_key(project)).to include(project.route.cache_key)
     end
 
     it "includes the project" do
diff --git a/spec/models/namespace_spec.rb b/spec/models/namespace_spec.rb
index ca61e34b78e451048b5f1235b3efefeb2483f368..8624616316c87e2631a92a0a2ec51cd45b0ede90 100644
--- a/spec/models/namespace_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/namespace_spec.rb
@@ -332,10 +332,4 @@ describe Namespace, models: true do
 
     it { expect(group.all_projects.to_a).to eq([project2, project1]) }
   end
-
-  describe '#parent_full_path' do
-    let(:namespace) { create(:group, :nested) }
-
-    it { expect(namespace.parent_full_path).to eq(namespace.parent.path) }
-  end
 end