fix: use sanitized value in unique field check

changelog.txt

@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@ Found a bug? Have a great feature idea? Get on GitHub and tell us about it and w
 
 Our GitHub has the full list of all prior releases and changelogs for Pods: [https://github.com/pods-framework/pods/releases](https://github.com/pods-framework/pods/releases)
 
+= Unreleased =
+
+* Bug: Fixed Unique field validation so the sanitized value is used in the uniqueness query. Unique fields on table storage pods now correctly block duplicate values and no longer trigger a PHP warning. #7623
+
 = 3.3.9.2 - August 31st, 2026 =
 
 This is a major security hardening release covering multiple areas of the plugin. We recommend updating as soon as possible.

classes/PodsAPI.php

@@ -9727,6 +9727,9 @@ public function handle_field_validation( &$value, $field, $object_fields, $field
 
 			if ( ! in_array( $type, $tableless_field_types, true ) ) {
 				$exclude = '';
+
+				$check_value = pods_sanitize( $value );
+
 				$prepare = [
 					$field,
 					$check_value,
@@ -9739,8 +9742,6 @@ public function handle_field_validation( &$value, $field, $object_fields, $field
 
 				$check = false;
 
-				$check_value = pods_sanitize( $value );
-
 				// @todo handle meta-based fields
 				// Trigger an error if not unique
 				if ( 'table' === $pod['storage'] ) {