diff --git a/item-nbt-api/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/changeme/nbtapi/NBTItem.java b/item-nbt-api/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/changeme/nbtapi/NBTItem.java
index ca0dd7b21..ab5242d72 100644
--- a/item-nbt-api/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/changeme/nbtapi/NBTItem.java
+++ b/item-nbt-api/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/changeme/nbtapi/NBTItem.java
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.iface.ReadWriteItemNBT;
 import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.iface.ReadWriteNBT;
 import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.iface.ReadableNBT;
+import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.utils.MinecraftVersion;
 import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.utils.nmsmappings.ClassWrapper;
 import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.utils.nmsmappings.ReflectionMethod;
 
@@ -210,10 +211,18 @@ public void mergeNBT(ItemStack item) {
      *
      * @param item ItemStack that should get the new NBT data
      */
+    @Deprecated
     public void mergeCustomNBT(ItemStack item) {
         if (item == null || item.getType() == Material.AIR) {
             throw new NullPointerException("ItemStack can't be null/Air!");
         }
+        if(MinecraftVersion.isAtLeastVersion(MinecraftVersion.MC1_20_R4)) {
+            // 1.20.5+ doesn't have any vanilla tags
+            NBT.modify(item, nbt -> {
+                nbt.mergeCompound(this);
+            });
+            return;
+        }
         ItemMeta meta = item.getItemMeta();
         NBTReflectionUtil.getUnhandledNBTTags(meta)
                 .putAll(NBTReflectionUtil.getUnhandledNBTTags(bukkitItem.getItemMeta()));
@@ -225,7 +234,12 @@ public void mergeCustomNBT(ItemStack item) {
      * 
      * @return true when custom tags are present
      */
+    @Deprecated
     public boolean hasCustomNbtData() {
+        if(MinecraftVersion.isAtLeastVersion(MinecraftVersion.MC1_20_R4)) {
+            // 1.20.5+ doesn't have any vanilla tags
+            return hasNBTData();
+        }
         finalizeChanges();
         ItemMeta meta = bukkitItem.getItemMeta();
         return !NBTReflectionUtil.getUnhandledNBTTags(meta).isEmpty();
@@ -234,8 +248,14 @@ public boolean hasCustomNbtData() {
     /**
      * Remove all custom (non-vanilla) NBT tags from the NBTItem.
      */
+    @Deprecated
     public void clearCustomNBT() {
         finalizeChanges();
+        if(MinecraftVersion.isAtLeastVersion(MinecraftVersion.MC1_20_R4)) {
+            // 1.20.5+ doesn't have any vanilla tags
+            setCompound(null);
+            return;
+        }
         ItemMeta meta = bukkitItem.getItemMeta();
         NBTReflectionUtil.getUnhandledNBTTags(meta).clear();
         bukkitItem.setItemMeta(meta);
@@ -280,6 +300,9 @@ public void modifyMeta(BiConsumer<ReadableNBT, ItemMeta> handler) {
         bukkitItem.setItemMeta(meta);
         updateCachedCompound();
         if (directApply) {
+            if(MinecraftVersion.isAtLeastVersion(MinecraftVersion.MC1_20_R4)) {
+                throw new NbtApiException("Direct apply mode meta changes don't work anymore in 1.20.5+. Please switch to the modern NBT.modify sytnax!");
+            }
             applyNBT(originalSrcStack);
         }
     }
diff --git a/item-nbt-api/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/changeme/nbtapi/NBTReflectionUtil.java b/item-nbt-api/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/changeme/nbtapi/NBTReflectionUtil.java
index 0a03d3b58..14564f2ee 100644
--- a/item-nbt-api/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/changeme/nbtapi/NBTReflectionUtil.java
+++ b/item-nbt-api/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/changeme/nbtapi/NBTReflectionUtil.java
@@ -246,6 +246,7 @@ public static NBTContainer convertNMSItemtoNBTCompound(Object nmsitem) {
      * @return Map containing unhandled (custom) NBT tags
      */
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+    @Deprecated
     public static Map<String, Object> getUnhandledNBTTags(ItemMeta meta) {
         try {
             return (Map<String, Object>) field_unhandledTags.get(meta);
diff --git a/item-nbt-plugin/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/nbtapi/plugin/tests/items/DirectApplyMetaTest.java b/item-nbt-plugin/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/nbtapi/plugin/tests/items/DirectApplyMetaTest.java
index cf742219d..5e9f3510a 100644
--- a/item-nbt-plugin/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/nbtapi/plugin/tests/items/DirectApplyMetaTest.java
+++ b/item-nbt-plugin/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/nbtapi/plugin/tests/items/DirectApplyMetaTest.java
@@ -4,22 +4,27 @@
 import org.bukkit.inventory.ItemStack;
 import org.bukkit.inventory.meta.ItemMeta;
 
+import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.NBT;
 import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.NBTItem;
 import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.NbtApiException;
 import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.iface.ReadableNBT;
+import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.utils.MinecraftVersion;
 import de.tr7zw.nbtapi.plugin.tests.Test;
 
 public class DirectApplyMetaTest implements Test {
 
     @Override
     public void test() throws Exception {
+        if(MinecraftVersion.isAtLeastVersion(MinecraftVersion.MC1_20_R4)) {
+            return; // skip
+        }
         ItemStack baseItem = new ItemStack(Material.STONE);
         NBTItem nbti = new NBTItem(baseItem, true);
         nbti.setString("SomeKey", "SomeValue");
         nbti.modifyMeta(this::modifyMeta);
 
         if (!new NBTItem(baseItem).hasTag("SomeKey") || !"SomeValue".equals(baseItem.getItemMeta().getDisplayName())) {
-            throw new NbtApiException("The item was not modified correctly!");
+            throw new NbtApiException("The item was not modified correctly! " + NBT.itemStackToNBT(baseItem));
         }
 
     }
diff --git a/item-nbt-plugin/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/nbtapi/plugin/tests/items/ItemMergingTest.java b/item-nbt-plugin/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/nbtapi/plugin/tests/items/ItemMergingTest.java
index 0b6e06a86..1c6aa1df2 100644
--- a/item-nbt-plugin/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/nbtapi/plugin/tests/items/ItemMergingTest.java
+++ b/item-nbt-plugin/src/main/java/de/tr7zw/nbtapi/plugin/tests/items/ItemMergingTest.java
@@ -6,12 +6,16 @@
 
 import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.NBTItem;
 import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.NbtApiException;
+import de.tr7zw.changeme.nbtapi.utils.MinecraftVersion;
 import de.tr7zw.nbtapi.plugin.tests.Test;
 
 public class ItemMergingTest implements Test {
 
     @Override
     public void test() throws Exception {
+        if(MinecraftVersion.isAtLeastVersion(MinecraftVersion.MC1_20_R4)) {
+            return; // skip, there is no vanilla nbt
+        }
         ItemStack item = new ItemStack(Material.WRITTEN_BOOK);
         BookMeta bookMeta = (BookMeta) item.getItemMeta();
         bookMeta.setAuthor("Author");