diff --git a/doc/release-notes/11301-blocked-deposit-page.md b/doc/release-notes/11301-blocked-deposit-page.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..98af00ea0a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/release-notes/11301-blocked-deposit-page.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+### Reduced chance of losing metadata on Edit Dataset Metadata page
+
+The remedy for the problem consists of two parts:
+* Do not show the _host dataverse_ field when there is nothing to choose. This mimics the behaviour for templates.
+* When you accidentally start typing in the _host dataverse_ field, undo the change with backspace, fill in the other metadata fields and save the draft, the page used to get blocked due to an exception. Reloading the page would erase all your input. The exception (caused by an invalid argument) is remedied returning the currently selected value.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetPage.java b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetPage.java
index af8cdc21968..ab25622ffcb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetPage.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetPage.java
@@ -142,7 +142,6 @@
 import jakarta.faces.event.AjaxBehaviorEvent;
 import jakarta.servlet.ServletOutputStream;
 import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
-import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
 
 import org.apache.commons.text.StringEscapeUtils;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.mutable.MutableBoolean;
@@ -335,6 +334,7 @@ public enum DisplayMode {
     private List<SelectItem> linkingDVSelectItems;
     private Dataverse linkingDataverse;
     private Dataverse selectedHostDataverse;
+    private boolean hasDataversesToChoose;
 
     public Dataverse getSelectedHostDataverse() {
         return selectedHostDataverse;
@@ -1767,6 +1767,11 @@ public void setDataverseTemplates(List<Template> dataverseTemplates) {
         this.dataverseTemplates = dataverseTemplates;
     }
 
+    public boolean isHasDataversesToChoose() {
+        this.hasDataversesToChoose = dataverseService.findAll().size() > 1;
+        return this.hasDataversesToChoose;
+    }
+
     public Template getDefaultTemplate() {
         return defaultTemplate;
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DataverseConverter.java b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DataverseConverter.java
index d802117043b..dc6e1d306f2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DataverseConverter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DataverseConverter.java
@@ -13,12 +13,15 @@
 import jakarta.faces.convert.Converter;
 import jakarta.faces.convert.FacesConverter;
 
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
+
 /**
  *
  * @author skraffmiller
  */
 @FacesConverter("dataverseConverter")
 public class DataverseConverter implements Converter {
+    private static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(DatasetPage.class.getCanonicalName());
 
     
     //@EJB
@@ -26,7 +29,13 @@ public class DataverseConverter implements Converter {
 
     @Override
     public Object getAsObject(FacesContext facesContext, UIComponent component, String submittedValue) {
-        return dataverseService.find(new Long(submittedValue));
+        if (submittedValue == null || !submittedValue.matches("[0-9]+")) {
+            logger.fine("Submitted value is not a host dataverse number but: " + submittedValue);
+            return CDI.current().select(DatasetPage.class).get().getSelectedHostDataverse();
+        }
+        else {
+            return dataverseService.find(Long.valueOf(submittedValue));
+        }
         //return dataverseService.findByAlias(submittedValue);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/dataset.xhtml b/src/main/webapp/dataset.xhtml
index 4efa598d04b..52d65301af7 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/dataset.xhtml
+++ b/src/main/webapp/dataset.xhtml
@@ -738,7 +738,7 @@
                     <!-- Create/Edit editMode -->
                     <ui:fragment rendered="#{DatasetPage.editMode == 'METADATA' or DatasetPage.editMode == 'CREATE'}">
                         <p:focus context="datasetForm"/>
-                        <div class="form-group">
+                        <div class="form-group" jsf:rendered="#{DatasetPage.hasDataversesToChoose and DatasetPage.editMode == 'CREATE'}">
                             <label jsf:for="#{DatasetPage.editMode == 'CREATE' ? 'selectHostDataverse_input' : 'select_HostDataverse_Static'}" class="col-md-3 control-label">
                                 #{bundle.hostDataverse}
                                 <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-question-sign tooltip-icon"