diff --git a/fairchive-webapp/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/AbstractDatasetCommand.java b/fairchive-webapp/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/AbstractDatasetCommand.java
index d30576cc73..68f7f6295c 100644
--- a/fairchive-webapp/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/AbstractDatasetCommand.java
+++ b/fairchive-webapp/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/AbstractDatasetCommand.java
@@ -1,5 +1,18 @@
 package edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.engine.command.impl;
 
+import static java.util.stream.Collectors.joining;
+
+import java.sql.Timestamp;
+import java.util.Date;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.logging.Level;
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
+
+import javax.validation.ConstraintViolation;
+
 import edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.common.BundleUtil;
 import edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.engine.command.AbstractCommand;
 import edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.engine.command.CommandContext;
@@ -11,6 +24,7 @@
 import edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.globalid.FakePidProviderServiceBean;
 import edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.globalid.GlobalIdServiceBean;
 import edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.persistence.datafile.FileMetadata;
+import edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.persistence.dataset.ControlledVocabularyValue;
 import edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.persistence.dataset.Dataset;
 import edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.persistence.dataset.DatasetField;
 import edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.persistence.dataset.DatasetFieldUtil;
@@ -22,17 +36,6 @@
 import edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.validation.field.FieldValidationResult;
 import io.vavr.control.Try;
 
-import javax.validation.ConstraintViolation;
-import java.sql.Timestamp;
-import java.util.Date;
-import java.util.Iterator;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Set;
-import java.util.logging.Level;
-import java.util.logging.Logger;
-
-import static java.util.stream.Collectors.joining;
-
 /**
  * Base class for commands that deal with {@code Dataset}s.Mainly here as a code
  * re-use mechanism.
@@ -142,10 +145,13 @@ protected void validateOrDie(DatasetVersion dsv, Boolean lenient, CommandContext
      */
     protected void tidyUpFields(DatasetVersion dsv) {
         removeBlankDatasetFields(dsv.getDatasetFields());
+        
+        removeControlledVocabularyDuplicates(dsv.getDatasetFields());
 
         updateDisplayOrder(dsv.getDatasetFields());
 
         dsv.getDatasetFields().forEach(field -> field.trimTrailingSpaces());
+        
     }
 
     /**
@@ -274,4 +280,16 @@ private void handlePidReservation(Dataset theDataset, GlobalIdServiceBean global
             theDataset.setIdentifierRegistered(true);
         }
     }
+    
+    /* In theory this function shouldn't be needed but */
+    private void removeControlledVocabularyDuplicates(final List<DatasetField> fields) {
+    	
+    	final HashSet<ControlledVocabularyValue> alreadySeen = new HashSet<>();
+    	for(final DatasetField field : fields) {
+    		field.getControlledVocabularyValues().
+    				removeIf(value -> !alreadySeen.add(value));
+    		alreadySeen.clear();
+    		removeControlledVocabularyDuplicates(field.getChildren());
+    	}
+    }
 }