diff --git a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/identifier/VersionedHandleIdentifierProvider.java b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/identifier/VersionedHandleIdentifierProvider.java
index f7e62e22f5..49cd18886d 100644
--- a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/identifier/VersionedHandleIdentifierProvider.java
+++ b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/identifier/VersionedHandleIdentifierProvider.java
@@ -428,9 +428,10 @@ public class VersionedHandleIdentifierProvider extends IdentifierProvider {
         return identifier;
     }
     
-    protected void populateHandleMetadata(Context context, Item item, String handleref)
+    protected void populateHandleMetadata(Context context, Item item, String handle)
             throws SQLException, IOException, AuthorizeException
     {
+        String handleref = getCanonicalForm(handle);
         // we want to remove the old handle and insert the new. To do so, we 
         // load all identifiers, clear the metadata field, re add all 
         // identifiers which are not from type handle and add the new handle.