diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/api/Datasets.java b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/api/Datasets.java
index 61029e656a8..b934e9ef05c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/api/Datasets.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/api/Datasets.java
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ private Response processDatasetFieldDataDelete(String jsonBody, String id, Datav
                 boolean found = false;
                 for (DatasetField dsf : dsv.getDatasetFields()) {
                     if (dsf.getDatasetFieldType().equals(updateField.getDatasetFieldType())) {
-                        if (dsf.getDatasetFieldType().isAllowMultiples()) {
+                        if (dsf.getDatasetFieldType().isAllowMultiples()) { 
                             if (updateField.getDatasetFieldType().isControlledVocabulary()) {
                                 if (dsf.getDatasetFieldType().isAllowMultiples()) {
                                     for (ControlledVocabularyValue cvv : updateField.getControlledVocabularyValues()) {
@@ -511,6 +511,10 @@ private Response processDatasetFieldDataDelete(String jsonBody, String id, Datav
                                     }
                                 }
                             }
+                        } else {
+                            found = true;
+                            dsf.setSingleValue(null);
+                            dsf.setSingleControlledVocabularyValue(null);
                         }
                         break;
                     }