diff --git a/app/models/my_module.rb b/app/models/my_module.rb
index 482e538ee..96f7c3a3c 100644
--- a/app/models/my_module.rb
+++ b/app/models/my_module.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ class MyModule < ApplicationRecord
   validates :experiment, presence: true
   validates :my_module_group, presence: true,
             if: proc { |mm| !mm.my_module_group_id.nil? }
-  validates_uniqueness_of :x, scope: %i(y experiment_id), message: :not_unique
+  validate :coordinates, if: proc { |mm| !mm.archived? }
 
   belongs_to :created_by,
              foreign_key: 'created_by_id',
@@ -501,4 +501,12 @@ class MyModule < ApplicationRecord
   def create_blank_protocol
     protocols << Protocol.new_blank_for_module(self)
   end
+
+  def coordinates
+    my_modules_on_same_position =
+      MyModule.where(experiment_id: experiment_id, x: x, y: y, archived: false).where.not(id: id)
+    if my_modules_on_same_position.any?
+      errors.add(:position, I18n.t('activerecord.errors.models.my_module.attributes.position.not_unique'))
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/config/locales/en.yml b/config/locales/en.yml
index 425d4cc46..b127c0e6e 100644
--- a/config/locales/en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/en.yml
@@ -83,15 +83,14 @@ en:
               same_team: "Inventory can't be shared to the same team as it belongs to"
         my_module:
           attributes:
-            x:
-             not_unique: "and Y position has already been taken by another task in the experiment."
+            position:
+             not_unique: "X and Y position has already been taken by another task in the experiment."
         asset:
           attributes:
             file:
               too_big: "is too big"
 
 
-
   helpers:
     label:
       team:
diff --git a/spec/models/my_module_spec.rb b/spec/models/my_module_spec.rb
index 9b918eb20..56e33e591 100644
--- a/spec/models/my_module_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/my_module_spec.rb
@@ -79,15 +79,23 @@ describe MyModule, type: :model do
       end
     end
 
-    describe '#x, #y scoped to experiment' do
+    describe '#x, #y scoped to experiment for active modules' do
       it { is_expected.to validate_presence_of :x }
       it { is_expected.to validate_presence_of :y }
 
-      it do
-        expect(my_module)
-          .to(validate_uniqueness_of(:x)
-                .scoped_to(%i(y experiment_id))
-                .with_message('and Y position has already been taken by another task in the experiment.'))
+      it 'should be invalid for same x, y, and experiment' do
+        my_module.save
+        new_my_module = my_module.dup
+
+        expect(new_my_module).not_to be_valid
+      end
+
+      it 'should be valid when module with same x, y and expriment is archived' do
+        my_module.save
+        new_my_module = my_module.dup
+        my_module.update_column(:archived, true)
+
+        expect(new_my_module).to be_valid
       end
     end