diff --git a/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation-loader.component.html b/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation-loader.component.html
deleted file mode 100644
index 3979c238ad..0000000000
--- a/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation-loader.component.html
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-<ng-container dsMetadataRepresentation></ng-container>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation-loader.component.spec.ts b/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation-loader.component.spec.ts
index 7edf1a700e..c9bec402d1 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation-loader.component.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation-loader.component.spec.ts
@@ -6,10 +6,11 @@ import {
   MetadataRepresentationType
 } from '../../core/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation.model';
 import { MetadataRepresentationLoaderComponent } from './metadata-representation-loader.component';
-import { MetadataRepresentationDirective } from './metadata-representation.directive';
+import { DynamicComponentLoaderDirective } from '../abstract-component-loader/dynamic-component-loader.directive';
 import { METADATA_REPRESENTATION_COMPONENT_FACTORY } from './metadata-representation.decorator';
 import { ThemeService } from '../theme-support/theme.service';
 import { PlainTextMetadataListElementComponent } from '../object-list/metadata-representation-list-element/plain-text/plain-text-metadata-list-element.component';
+import { getMockThemeService } from '../mocks/theme-service.mock';
 
 const testType = 'TestType';
 const testContext = Context.Search;
@@ -36,12 +37,14 @@ describe('MetadataRepresentationLoaderComponent', () => {
   const themeName = 'test-theme';
 
   beforeEach(waitForAsync(() => {
-    themeService = jasmine.createSpyObj('themeService', {
-      getThemeName: themeName,
-    });
+    themeService = getMockThemeService(themeName);
     TestBed.configureTestingModule({
       imports: [],
-      declarations: [MetadataRepresentationLoaderComponent, PlainTextMetadataListElementComponent, MetadataRepresentationDirective],
+      declarations: [
+        MetadataRepresentationLoaderComponent,
+        PlainTextMetadataListElementComponent,
+        DynamicComponentLoaderDirective,
+      ],
       schemas: [NO_ERRORS_SCHEMA],
       providers: [
         {
@@ -64,6 +67,7 @@ describe('MetadataRepresentationLoaderComponent', () => {
   beforeEach(waitForAsync(() => {
     fixture = TestBed.createComponent(MetadataRepresentationLoaderComponent);
     comp = fixture.componentInstance;
+    spyOn(comp, 'getComponent').and.callThrough();
 
     comp.mdRepresentation = new TestType();
     comp.context = testContext;
@@ -71,8 +75,8 @@ describe('MetadataRepresentationLoaderComponent', () => {
   }));
 
   describe('When the component is rendered', () => {
-    it('should call the getMetadataRepresentationComponent function with the right entity type, representation type and context', () => {
-      expect((comp as any).getMetadataRepresentationComponent).toHaveBeenCalledWith(testType, testRepresentationType, testContext, themeName);
+    it('should call the getComponent function', () => {
+      expect(comp.getComponent).toHaveBeenCalled();
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation-loader.component.ts b/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation-loader.component.ts
index 42ee093278..83542512ed 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation-loader.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation-loader.component.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Component, ComponentFactoryResolver, Inject, Input, OnInit, ViewChild, OnChanges, SimpleChanges, ComponentRef, ViewContainerRef, ComponentFactory } from '@angular/core';
+import { Component, Inject, Input } from '@angular/core';
 import {
   MetadataRepresentation,
   MetadataRepresentationType
@@ -7,118 +7,37 @@ import { METADATA_REPRESENTATION_COMPONENT_FACTORY } from './metadata-representa
 import { Context } from '../../core/shared/context.model';
 import { GenericConstructor } from '../../core/shared/generic-constructor';
 import { MetadataRepresentationListElementComponent } from '../object-list/metadata-representation-list-element/metadata-representation-list-element.component';
-import { MetadataRepresentationDirective } from './metadata-representation.directive';
-import { hasValue, isNotEmpty, hasNoValue } from '../empty.util';
 import { ThemeService } from '../theme-support/theme.service';
+import { AbstractComponentLoaderComponent } from '../abstract-component-loader/abstract-component-loader.component';
 
 @Component({
   selector: 'ds-metadata-representation-loader',
-  templateUrl: './metadata-representation-loader.component.html'
+  templateUrl: '../abstract-component-loader/abstract-component-loader.component.html',
 })
 /**
  * Component for determining what component to use depending on the item's entity type (dspace.entity.type), its metadata representation and, optionally, its context
  */
-export class MetadataRepresentationLoaderComponent implements OnInit, OnChanges {
+export class MetadataRepresentationLoaderComponent extends AbstractComponentLoaderComponent<MetadataRepresentationListElementComponent> {
 
   /**
    * The item or metadata to determine the component for
    */
-  private _mdRepresentation: MetadataRepresentation;
-  get mdRepresentation(): MetadataRepresentation {
-    return this._mdRepresentation;
-  }
-  @Input() set mdRepresentation(nextValue: MetadataRepresentation) {
-    this._mdRepresentation = nextValue;
-    if (hasValue(this.compRef?.instance)) {
-      this.compRef.instance.mdRepresentation = nextValue;
-    }
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * The optional context
-   */
-  @Input() context: Context;
-
-  /**
-   * Directive to determine where the dynamic child component is located
-   */
-  @ViewChild(MetadataRepresentationDirective, {static: true}) mdRepDirective: MetadataRepresentationDirective;
-
-  /**
-   * The reference to the dynamic component
-   */
-  protected compRef: ComponentRef<MetadataRepresentationListElementComponent>;
+  @Input() mdRepresentation: MetadataRepresentation;
 
   protected inAndOutputNames: (keyof this)[] = [
-    'context',
+    ...this.inAndOutputNames,
     'mdRepresentation',
   ];
 
   constructor(
-    private componentFactoryResolver: ComponentFactoryResolver,
-    private themeService: ThemeService,
+    protected themeService: ThemeService,
     @Inject(METADATA_REPRESENTATION_COMPONENT_FACTORY) private getMetadataRepresentationComponent: (entityType: string, mdRepresentationType: MetadataRepresentationType, context: Context, theme: string) => GenericConstructor<any>,
   ) {
+    super(themeService);
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Set up the dynamic child component
-   */
-  ngOnInit(): void {
-    this.instantiateComponent();
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Whenever the inputs change, update the inputs of the dynamic component
-   */
-  ngOnChanges(changes: SimpleChanges): void {
-    if (hasNoValue(this.compRef)) {
-      // sometimes the component has not been initialized yet, so it first needs to be initialized
-      // before being called again
-      this.instantiateComponent(changes);
-    } else {
-      // if an input or output has changed
-      if (this.inAndOutputNames.some((name: any) => hasValue(changes[name]))) {
-        this.connectInputsAndOutputs();
-        if (this.compRef?.instance && 'ngOnChanges' in this.compRef.instance) {
-          (this.compRef.instance as any).ngOnChanges(changes);
-        }
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
-  private instantiateComponent(changes?: SimpleChanges): void {
-    const componentFactory: ComponentFactory<MetadataRepresentationListElementComponent> = this.componentFactoryResolver.resolveComponentFactory(this.getComponent());
-
-    const viewContainerRef: ViewContainerRef = this.mdRepDirective.viewContainerRef;
-    viewContainerRef.clear();
-
-    this.compRef = viewContainerRef.createComponent(componentFactory);
-
-    if (hasValue(changes)) {
-      this.ngOnChanges(changes);
-    } else {
-      this.connectInputsAndOutputs();
-    }
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Fetch the component depending on the item's entity type, metadata representation type and context
-   * @returns {string}
-   */
-  private getComponent(): GenericConstructor<MetadataRepresentationListElementComponent> {
+  public getComponent(): GenericConstructor<MetadataRepresentationListElementComponent> {
     return this.getMetadataRepresentationComponent(this.mdRepresentation.itemType, this.mdRepresentation.representationType, this.context, this.themeService.getThemeName());
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Connect the in and outputs of this component to the dynamic component,
-   * to ensure they're in sync
-   */
-  protected connectInputsAndOutputs(): void {
-    if (isNotEmpty(this.inAndOutputNames) && hasValue(this.compRef) && hasValue(this.compRef.instance)) {
-      this.inAndOutputNames.filter((name: any) => this[name] !== undefined).forEach((name: any) => {
-        this.compRef.instance[name] = this[name];
-      });
-    }
-  }
 }
diff --git a/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation.directive.ts b/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation.directive.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 9ff0573baf..0000000000
--- a/src/app/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation.directive.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-import { Directive, ViewContainerRef } from '@angular/core';
-
-@Directive({
-  selector: '[dsMetadataRepresentation]',
-})
-/**
- * Directive used as a hook to know where to inject the dynamic metadata representation component
- */
-export class MetadataRepresentationDirective {
-  constructor(public viewContainerRef: ViewContainerRef) { }
-}
diff --git a/src/app/shared/shared.module.ts b/src/app/shared/shared.module.ts
index c00b09e20f..bce7282e8b 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/shared.module.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/shared.module.ts
@@ -170,7 +170,6 @@ import { AccessStatusBadgeComponent } from './object-collection/shared/badges/ac
 import {
   MetadataRepresentationLoaderComponent
 } from './metadata-representation/metadata-representation-loader.component';
-import { MetadataRepresentationDirective } from './metadata-representation/metadata-representation.directive';
 import {
   ListableObjectComponentLoaderComponent
 } from './object-collection/shared/listable-object/listable-object-component-loader.component';
@@ -481,7 +480,6 @@ const DIRECTIVES = [
   InListValidator,
   AutoFocusDirective,
   RoleDirective,
-  MetadataRepresentationDirective,
   FileValueAccessorDirective,
   FileValidator,
   NgForTrackByIdDirective,