diff --git a/src/app/dso-shared/dso-edit-metadata/metadata-field-selector/metadata-field-selector.component.spec.ts b/src/app/dso-shared/dso-edit-metadata/metadata-field-selector/metadata-field-selector.component.spec.ts
index 999012a7fe..8880b07c88 100644
--- a/src/app/dso-shared/dso-edit-metadata/metadata-field-selector/metadata-field-selector.component.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/dso-shared/dso-edit-metadata/metadata-field-selector/metadata-field-selector.component.spec.ts
@@ -106,6 +106,14 @@ describe('MetadataFieldSelectorComponent', () => {
       });
     });
 
+    it('should sort the fields by name to ensure the one without a qualifier is first', () => {
+      component.mdField = 'dc.relation';
+
+      component.validate();
+
+      expect(registryService.queryMetadataFields).toHaveBeenCalledWith('dc.relation', { elementsPerPage: 10, sort: new SortOptions('fieldName', SortDirection.ASC) }, true, false, followLink('schema'));
+    });
+
     describe('when querying the metadata fields returns an error response', () => {
       beforeEach(() => {
         (registryService.queryMetadataFields as jasmine.Spy).and.returnValue(createFailedRemoteDataObject$('Failed'));
diff --git a/src/app/dso-shared/dso-edit-metadata/metadata-field-selector/metadata-field-selector.component.ts b/src/app/dso-shared/dso-edit-metadata/metadata-field-selector/metadata-field-selector.component.ts
index ec9ebabcf9..4dbf26e3f1 100644
--- a/src/app/dso-shared/dso-edit-metadata/metadata-field-selector/metadata-field-selector.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/dso-shared/dso-edit-metadata/metadata-field-selector/metadata-field-selector.component.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import { hasValue } from '../../../shared/empty.util';
 import { NotificationsService } from '../../../shared/notifications/notifications.service';
 import { TranslateService } from '@ngx-translate/core';
 import { SortDirection, SortOptions } from '../../../core/cache/models/sort-options.model';
+import { FindListOptions } from '../../../core/data/find-list-options.model';
 
 @Component({
   selector: 'ds-metadata-field-selector',
@@ -100,6 +101,11 @@ export class MetadataFieldSelectorComponent implements OnInit, OnDestroy, AfterV
    */
   showInvalid = false;
 
+  searchOptions: FindListOptions = {
+    elementsPerPage: 10,
+    sort: new SortOptions('fieldName', SortDirection.ASC),
+  };
+
   /**
    * Subscriptions to unsubscribe from on destroy
    */
@@ -182,7 +188,7 @@ export class MetadataFieldSelectorComponent implements OnInit, OnDestroy, AfterV
    * Upon subscribing to the returned observable, the showInvalid flag is updated accordingly to show the feedback under the input
    */
   validate(): Observable<boolean> {
-    return this.registryService.queryMetadataFields(this.mdField, null, true, false, followLink('schema')).pipe(
+    return this.registryService.queryMetadataFields(this.mdField, this.searchOptions, true, false, followLink('schema')).pipe(
       getFirstCompletedRemoteData(),
       switchMap((rd) => {
         if (rd.hasSucceeded) {
diff --git a/src/app/item-page/edit-item-page/edit-item-page.component.html b/src/app/item-page/edit-item-page/edit-item-page.component.html
index 63dadef3b1..f697e0b8f4 100644
--- a/src/app/item-page/edit-item-page/edit-item-page.component.html
+++ b/src/app/item-page/edit-item-page/edit-item-page.component.html
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
         <div class="col-12">
             <h1 class="border-bottom">{{'item.edit.head' | translate}}</h1>
             <div class="pt-2">
-                <ul class="nav nav-tabs justify-content-start" role="tablist">
+              <ul *ngIf="pages.length > 0" class="nav nav-tabs justify-content-start" role="tablist">
                     <li *ngFor="let page of pages" class="nav-item" role="presentation">
                         <a *ngIf="(page.enabled | async)"
                            [attr.aria-selected]="page.page === currentPage"