diff --git a/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/submission/item-list-elements/org-unit/org-unit-search-result-list-submission-element.component.ts b/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/submission/item-list-elements/org-unit/org-unit-search-result-list-submission-element.component.ts
index 7a38a02cf4..954f7bc591 100644
--- a/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/submission/item-list-elements/org-unit/org-unit-search-result-list-submission-element.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/submission/item-list-elements/org-unit/org-unit-search-result-list-submission-element.component.ts
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ export class OrgUnitSearchResultListSubmissionElementComponent extends SearchRes
     this.useNameVariants = this.context === Context.EntitySearchModalWithNameVariants;
 
     if (this.useNameVariants) {
-      const defaultValue = this.dsoTitle;
+      const defaultValue = this.dso ? this.dsoNameService.getName(this.dso) : undefined;
       const alternatives = this.allMetadataValues(this.alternativeField);
       this.allSuggestions = [defaultValue, ...alternatives];
 
diff --git a/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/submission/item-list-elements/person/person-search-result-list-submission-element.component.ts b/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/submission/item-list-elements/person/person-search-result-list-submission-element.component.ts
index 7d761c42dd..305407f8d2 100644
--- a/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/submission/item-list-elements/person/person-search-result-list-submission-element.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/submission/item-list-elements/person/person-search-result-list-submission-element.component.ts
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ export class PersonSearchResultListSubmissionElementComponent extends SearchResu
 
   ngOnInit() {
     super.ngOnInit();
-    const defaultValue = this.dsoTitle;
+    const defaultValue = this.dso ? this.dsoNameService.getName(this.dso) : undefined;
     const alternatives = this.allMetadataValues(this.alternativeField);
     this.allSuggestions = [defaultValue, ...alternatives];
 
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/item-search-result/item/item-search-result-grid-element.component.spec.ts b/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/item-search-result/item/item-search-result-grid-element.component.spec.ts
index 57b863a1b1..97dda155c5 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/item-search-result/item/item-search-result-grid-element.component.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/item-search-result/item/item-search-result-grid-element.component.spec.ts
@@ -28,13 +28,14 @@ import { ItemSearchResultGridElementComponent } from './item-search-result-grid-
 
 const mockItemWithMetadata: ItemSearchResult = new ItemSearchResult();
 mockItemWithMetadata.hitHighlights = {};
+const dcTitle = 'This is just another <em>title</em>';
 mockItemWithMetadata.indexableObject = Object.assign(new Item(), {
   bundles: createSuccessfulRemoteDataObject$(buildPaginatedList(new PageInfo(), [])),
   metadata: {
     'dc.title': [
       {
         language: 'en_US',
-        value: 'This is just another title'
+        value: dcTitle
       }
     ],
     'dc.contributor.author': [
@@ -154,6 +155,17 @@ export function getEntityGridElementTestComponent(component, searchResultWithMet
           expect(itemAuthorField).toBeNull();
         });
       });
+
+      describe('When the item has title', () => {
+        beforeEach(() => {
+          comp.object = mockItemWithMetadata;
+          fixture.detectChanges();
+        });
+        it('should show highlighted title', () => {
+          const titleField = fixture.debugElement.query(By.css('.card-title'));
+          expect(titleField.nativeNode.innerHTML).toEqual(dcTitle);
+        });
+      });
     });
   };
 }
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/item-search-result/item/item-search-result-grid-element.component.ts b/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/item-search-result/item/item-search-result-grid-element.component.ts
index b5f9c016e4..fc24d5450b 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/item-search-result/item/item-search-result-grid-element.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/item-search-result/item/item-search-result-grid-element.component.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ export class ItemSearchResultGridElementComponent extends SearchResultGridElemen
   ngOnInit(): void {
     super.ngOnInit();
     this.itemPageRoute = getItemPageRoute(this.dso);
-    this.dsoTitle = this.dsoNameService.getName(this.dso);
+    this.dsoTitle = this.firstMetadataValue('dc.title') ??
+      (this.dso ? this.dsoNameService.getName(this.dso) : undefined);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-list/search-result-list-element/item-search-result/item-types/item/item-search-result-list-element.component.html b/src/app/shared/object-list/search-result-list-element/item-search-result/item-types/item/item-search-result-list-element.component.html
index ad0206bd4e..6b2951495d 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/object-list/search-result-list-element/item-search-result/item-types/item/item-search-result-list-element.component.html
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-list/search-result-list-element/item-search-result/item-types/item/item-search-result-list-element.component.html
@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@
     <ds-truncatable [id]="dso.id" *ngIf="object !== undefined && object !== null">
       <a *ngIf="linkType != linkTypes.None" [target]="(linkType == linkTypes.ExternalLink) ? '_blank' : '_self'" rel="noopener noreferrer"
          [routerLink]="[itemPageRoute]" class="lead item-list-title dont-break-out"
-         [innerHTML]="firstMetadataValue('dc.title') ?? dsoTitle"></a>
+         [innerHTML]="dsoTitle"></a>
       <span *ngIf="linkType == linkTypes.None" class="lead item-list-title dont-break-out"
-            [innerHTML]="firstMetadataValue('dc.title') ?? dsoTitle"></span>
+            [innerHTML]="dsoTitle"></span>
       <span class="text-muted">
       <ds-truncatable-part [id]="dso.id" [minLines]="1">
         <ng-container *ngIf="dso.firstMetadataValue('dc.publisher') || dso.firstMetadataValue('dc.date.issued')">
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-list/search-result-list-element/search-result-list-element.component.ts b/src/app/shared/object-list/search-result-list-element/search-result-list-element.component.ts
index 72120a6b68..c69044e907 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/object-list/search-result-list-element/search-result-list-element.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-list/search-result-list-element/search-result-list-element.component.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ export class SearchResultListElementComponent<T extends SearchResult<K>, K exten
   ngOnInit(): void {
     if (hasValue(this.object)) {
       this.dso = this.object.indexableObject;
-      this.dsoTitle = this.dsoNameService.getName(this.dso);
+      this.dsoTitle = this.firstMetadataValue('dc.title') ?? this.dsoNameService.getName(this.dso);
     }
   }