diff --git a/cataloguing/value_builder/marc21_field_008.pl b/cataloguing/value_builder/marc21_field_008.pl
index 060715afcf..08b1540f69 100755
--- a/cataloguing/value_builder/marc21_field_008.pl
+++ b/cataloguing/value_builder/marc21_field_008.pl
@@ -67,8 +67,9 @@ my $launcher = sub {
     my ( $params ) = @_;
     my $input = $params->{cgi};
 
+    my $default008 = biblio_008();
     my $index   = $input->param('index');
-    my $result  = $input->param('result') || biblio_008();
+    my $result  = $input->param('result') || $default008;
     my $leader  = $input->param('leader');
 
     my $material_configuration;
@@ -148,6 +149,7 @@ my $launcher = sub {
             result => $result,
             errorXml => $errorXml,
             material_configuration => $material_configuration,
+            default008 => $default008,
     );
     output_html_with_http_headers $input, $cookie, $template->output;
 };
diff --git a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/cataloguing/value_builder/marc21_field_008.tt b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/cataloguing/value_builder/marc21_field_008.tt
index 202dac95eb..b30076da74 100644
--- a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/cataloguing/value_builder/marc21_field_008.tt
+++ b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/cataloguing/value_builder/marc21_field_008.tt
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@
         var h4_result;
 
         function loadXmlValues(){
+            $("#result").val( fix_field_008( $("#result").val() ) ); // fix field before loading elements
+
             [% IF ( errorXml ) %]
                 alert("[% errorXml | html %]");
             [% ELSE %]
@@ -94,6 +96,20 @@
             return false;
         }
 
+        function fix_field_008( myfield ) {
+            // If field length < 40, append from default008 starting at last complete data element
+
+            var j, position = [ 6, 7, 11, 15, 18, 35, 38, 39, 40 ], defaultvalue = '[% default008 | $raw %]';
+            for( j=0; j<position.length; j++ ) {
+                if( myfield.length < position[j] ) break;
+            }
+            if( j == 0 ) {
+                return defaultvalue;
+            } else if( j < position.length ) {
+                return myfield.substring( 0, position[j-1] ) + defaultvalue.substring( position[j-1] );
+            }
+            return myfield;
+        }
     </script>
 [% END %]