diff --git a/modules/test-e2e/src/test/scala/org/knora/webapi/slice/resources/api/ValuesEndpointsE2ESpec.scala b/modules/test-e2e/src/test/scala/org/knora/webapi/slice/resources/api/ValuesEndpointsE2ESpec.scala
index e50f4ab423..55e8566a93 100644
--- a/modules/test-e2e/src/test/scala/org/knora/webapi/slice/resources/api/ValuesEndpointsE2ESpec.scala
+++ b/modules/test-e2e/src/test/scala/org/knora/webapi/slice/resources/api/ValuesEndpointsE2ESpec.scala
@@ -2614,7 +2614,7 @@ object ValuesEndpointsE2ESpec extends E2EZSpec { self =>
     },
     test("update a text value with a comment") {
       val resourceIri: IRI        = AThing.iri
-      val valueAsString: String   = "this is a text value that has an updated comment"
+      val valueAsString: String   = "this is a text value that has a 'thoroughly' updated comment"
       val valueHasComment: String = "this is an updated comment"
       val propertyIri: SmartIri   = "http://0.0.0.0:3333/ontology/0001/anything/v2#hasText".toSmartIri
 
diff --git a/webapi/src/main/scala/org/knora/webapi/messages/v2/responder/valuemessages/ValueMessagesV2.scala b/webapi/src/main/scala/org/knora/webapi/messages/v2/responder/valuemessages/ValueMessagesV2.scala
index 5182a46e8b..43a771f1f8 100644
--- a/webapi/src/main/scala/org/knora/webapi/messages/v2/responder/valuemessages/ValueMessagesV2.scala
+++ b/webapi/src/main/scala/org/knora/webapi/messages/v2/responder/valuemessages/ValueMessagesV2.scala
@@ -1206,11 +1206,12 @@ object TextValueContentV2 {
         )
     }
 
-  private def objectSparqlStringOption(r: Resource, property: String) = for {
+  private def objectSparqlStringOption(r: Resource, property: String): Either[String, Option[String]] = for {
     str <- r.objectStringOption(property)
     iri <- str match
-             case Some(s) => Right(Iri.toSparqlEncodedString(s))
-             case None    => Right(None)
+             case Some(s) if s.strip.isEmpty => Right(None)
+             case None                       => Right(None)
+             case Some(s)                    => Right(Some(s))
   } yield iri
 
   def from(r: Resource): ZIO[MessageRelay, IRI, TextValueContentV2] = for {
@@ -1228,7 +1229,6 @@ object TextValueContentV2 {
     textValue <-
       getTextValue(maybeValueAsString, maybeTextValueAsXml, maybeValueHasLanguage, maybeMappingResponse, comment)
         .mapError(_.getMessage)
-
   } yield textValue
 }