diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/actions/edit_metadata.py b/src/calibre/gui2/actions/edit_metadata.py
index 4ab4950179..ac475cb027 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/actions/edit_metadata.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/actions/edit_metadata.py
@@ -478,6 +478,10 @@ class EditMetadataAction(InterfaceAction):
         try:
             set_title = not mi.is_null('title')
             set_authors = not mi.is_null('authors')
+            idents = db.get_identifiers(i, index_is_id=True)
+            if mi.identifiers:
+                idents.update(mi.identifiers)
+            mi.identifiers = idents
             db.set_metadata(i, mi, commit=False, set_title=set_title,
                     set_authors=set_authors, notify=False)
             self.applied_ids.append(i)
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/metadata/single.py b/src/calibre/gui2/metadata/single.py
index 5c4e241bba..099831ccba 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/metadata/single.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/metadata/single.py
@@ -336,7 +336,9 @@ class MetadataSingleDialogBase(ResizableDialog):
         if not mi.is_null('tags'):
             self.tags.current_val = mi.tags
         if not mi.is_null('identifiers'):
-            self.identifiers.current_val = mi.identifiers
+            current = self.identifiers.current_val
+            current.update(mi.identifiers)
+            self.identifiers.current_val = current
         if not mi.is_null('pubdate'):
             self.pubdate.current_val = mi.pubdate
         if not mi.is_null('series') and mi.series.strip():