diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/repositories/forms/repository_item_edit.js b/app/assets/javascripts/repositories/forms/repository_item_edit.js
index 1cbd8b08a..0a36e2d9e 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/repositories/forms/repository_item_edit.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/repositories/forms/repository_item_edit.js
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@
   RepositoryItemEditForm.prototype.parseToFormObject = function(tableID, selectedRecord) {
     var formData = this.formData;
     var formDataObj = new FormData();
+    var removeFileColumns = [];
     formDataObj.append('request_url', $(tableID).data('current-uri'));
     formDataObj.append('repository_row_id', $(selectedRecord).attr('id'));
 
@@ -125,18 +126,25 @@
       } else {
         var colId = element.replace('colId-', '');
         var $el   = $('#' + element);
+        // don't save anything if element is not visible
+        if($el.length == 0) {
+          return true;
+        }
         if($el.attr('type') === 'file') {
-          // don't save anything if element is deleted
+          // handle deleting of element
           if($el.attr('remove') === "true") {
-            return true;
+            removeFileColumns.push(colId);
+            formDataObj.append('repository_cells[' + colId + ']', null);
+          } else {
+            formDataObj.append('repository_cells[' +  colId + ']',
+                               getFileValue($el));
           }
-          formDataObj.append('repository_cells[' +  colId + ']',
-                             getFileValue($el));
-        } else if(value.length > 0) {
+        } else if(value.length >= 0) {
           formDataObj.append('repository_cells[' +  colId + ']', value);
         }
       }
     });
+    formDataObj.append('remove_file_columns', JSON.stringify(removeFileColumns));
     return formDataObj;
   }
   /**
diff --git a/app/controllers/repository_rows_controller.rb b/app/controllers/repository_rows_controller.rb
index b7feb3f0e..942634b2f 100644
--- a/app/controllers/repository_rows_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/repository_rows_controller.rb
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ class RepositoryRowsController < ApplicationController
                 existing.delete
               end
             elsif existing.value_type == 'RepositoryAssetValue'
-              next if value.blank?
+              existing.value.destroy && next if remove_file_columns_params.include?(key)
               if existing.value.asset.update(file: value)
                 existing.value.asset.created_by = current_user
                 existing.value.asset.last_modified_by = current_user
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ class RepositoryRowsController < ApplicationController
                 }
               end
             else
+              existing.value.destroy && next if value == ''
               existing.value.data = value
               if existing.value.save
                 record_annotation_notification(@record, existing)
@@ -156,17 +157,12 @@ class RepositoryRowsController < ApplicationController
               end
             end
           else
+            next if value == ''
             # Looks like it is a new cell, so we need to create new value, cell
             # will be created automatically
             next if create_cell_value(@record, key, value, errors).nil?
           end
         end
-        # Clean up empty cells, not present in updated record
-        @record.repository_cells.each do |cell|
-          next if cell.value_type == 'RepositoryListValue'
-          cell.value.destroy unless cell_params
-                                    .key?(cell.repository_column_id.to_s)
-        end
       else
         @record.repository_cells.each { |c| c.value.destroy }
       end
@@ -369,6 +365,10 @@ class RepositoryRowsController < ApplicationController
     params.permit(repository_cells: {}).to_h[:repository_cells]
   end
 
+  def remove_file_columns_params
+    JSON.parse(params.fetch(:remove_file_columns) { '[]' })
+  end
+
   def selected_params
     params.permit(selected_rows: []).to_h[:selected_rows]
   end