diff --git a/src/app/submission/sections/form/section-form-operations.service.ts b/src/app/submission/sections/form/section-form-operations.service.ts
index 778063dd31..2ae5903d6b 100644
--- a/src/app/submission/sections/form/section-form-operations.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/submission/sections/form/section-form-operations.service.ts
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ export class SectionFormOperationsService {
             );
           }
         }
-      } else if (!value.hasValue()) {
+      } else if (isNotEmpty(value) && !value.hasValue()) {
         // New value is empty, so dispatch a remove operation
         if (this.getArrayIndexFromEvent(event) === 0) {
           this.operationsBuilder.remove(pathCombiner.getPath(segmentedPath));