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 198a6f102d..4a40b41415 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
@@ -116,6 +116,14 @@ 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 abdf2f14d8..86615d0d64 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
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ import {
   SortDirection,
   SortOptions,
 } from '../../../core/cache/models/sort-options.model';
+import { FindListOptions } from '../../../core/data/find-list-options.model';
 import { RegistryService } from '../../../core/registry/registry.service';
 import {
   getAllSucceededRemoteData,
@@ -129,6 +130,11 @@ 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
    */
@@ -211,7 +217,7 @@ 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) {