diff --git a/inventory/templates/crudkit/field.html b/inventory/templates/crudkit/field.html
index a5d1b6d..b458797 100644
--- a/inventory/templates/crudkit/field.html
+++ b/inventory/templates/crudkit/field.html
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@
 {% set opts = options or [] %}
 {% set selected = opts | selectattr('value', 'equalto', value) | list %}
 {% if not selected %}
-{# try again with string coercion to handle int vs str mismatch #}
 {% set selected = opts | selectattr('value', 'equalto', value|string) | list %}
 {% endif %}
 {% set sel = selected[0] if selected else none %}
@@ -63,7 +62,7 @@
 <button class="btn btn-outline-dark d-block w-100 text-start dropdown-toggle disabled inventory-dropdown" disabled>-- No
   selection available --</button>
 {% endif %}
-<input type="hidden" name="{{ field_name }}" id="{{ field_name }}" value="{{ value }}">
+<input type="hidden" name="{{ field_name }}" id="{{ field_name }}" value="{{ value if value else '' }}">
 
 {% elif field_type == 'textarea' %}
 <textarea name="{{ field_name }}" id="{{ field_name }}" {% if attrs %}{% for k,v in attrs.items() %} {{k}}{% if v is not