diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/pidproviders/AbstractPidProvider.java b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/pidproviders/AbstractPidProvider.java
index df2dc965ed9..469b3505165 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/pidproviders/AbstractPidProvider.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/pidproviders/AbstractPidProvider.java
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ public DvObject generatePid(DvObject dvObject) {
                         + ") doesn't match that of the provider, id: " + getId());
             }
         }
-        if (dvObject.getAuthority() == null) {
+        if (dvObject.getAuthority() == null) {            
             dvObject.setAuthority(getAuthority());
         } else {
             if (!dvObject.getAuthority().equals(getAuthority())) {
@@ -209,11 +209,19 @@ public DvObject generatePid(DvObject dvObject) {
         if (dvObject.getSeparator() == null) {
             dvObject.setSeparator(getSeparator());
         } else {
-            if (!dvObject.getSeparator().equals(getSeparator())) {
+            //only check separator if identifier is not null because a null authority would be set above...
+            //SEK 06/26/25 #11546
+            if (dvObject.getIdentifier() != null
+                    && !dvObject.getSeparator().equals(getSeparator())) {
                 logger.warning("The separator of the DvObject (" + dvObject.getSeparator()
                         + ") does not match the configured separator (" + getSeparator() + ")");
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("The separator of the DvObject (" + dvObject.getSeparator()
                         + ") doesn't match that of the provider, id: " + getId());
+            } else {
+                //we know it's not null so fill it if it's empty
+                if (dvObject.getSeparator().isEmpty()) {
+                    dvObject.setSeparator(getSeparator());
+                }
             }
         }
         if (dvObject.isInstanceofDataset()) {