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 96f28a799b..d94bf4fd51 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
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ export class OrgUnitSearchResultListSubmissionElementComponent extends SearchRes
     if (!this.allSuggestions.includes(value)) {
       this.openModal(value)
         .then(() => {
-
+          // user clicked ok: store the name variant in the item
           const newName: MetadataValue = new MetadataValue();
           newName.value = value;
 
@@ -89,9 +89,12 @@ export class OrgUnitSearchResultListSubmissionElementComponent extends SearchRes
               },
             });
           this.itemDataService.update(updatedItem).pipe(take(1)).subscribe();
-        })
+        }).catch(() => {
+        // user clicked cancel: use the name variant only for this relation, no further action required
+      }).finally(() => {
+        this.select(value);
+      })
     }
-    this.select(value);
   }
 
   openModal(value): Promise<any> {
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 08838c3223..42f8d72c70 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
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ export class PersonSearchResultListSubmissionElementComponent extends SearchResu
     if (!this.allSuggestions.includes(value)) {
       this.openModal(value)
         .then(() => {
-
+          // user clicked ok: store the name variant in the item
             const newName: MetadataValue = new MetadataValue();
             newName.value = value;
 
@@ -89,12 +89,12 @@ export class PersonSearchResultListSubmissionElementComponent extends SearchResu
                 },
               });
             this.itemDataService.update(updatedItem).pipe(take(1)).subscribe();
-          }
-        ).catch(() => {
-        /* empty, don't throw console error */
+      }).catch(() => {
+        // user clicked cancel: use the name variant only for this relation, no further action required
+      }).finally(() => {
+        this.select(value);
       })
     }
-    this.select(value);
   }
 
   openModal(value): Promise<any> {