diff --git a/controllers/agents_controller.rb b/controllers/agents_controller.rb
index fa22586d..8fcc932c 100644
--- a/controllers/agents_controller.rb
+++ b/controllers/agents_controller.rb
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ def update_identifiers(identifiers)
           identifier = LinkedData::Models::AgentIdentifier.new unless identifier
 
           i.delete "id"
+
+          return identifier if i.keys.size.zero?
+
           populate_from_params(identifier, i)
 
           if identifier.valid?
@@ -82,6 +85,8 @@ def update_affiliations(affiliations)
         Array(affiliations).map do |aff|
           affiliation =  aff["id"] ? LinkedData::Models::Agent.find(RDF::URI.new(aff["id"])).first : nil
 
+          return affiliation if aff.keys.size.eql?(1) && aff["id"]
+
           if affiliation
             affiliation.bring_remaining
             affiliation = update_agent(affiliation, aff)