diff --git a/scipost_django/journals/forms.py b/scipost_django/journals/forms.py
index 3b38810ffaf0dc1c857fcbc3bf305610f1e898bd..04760df64342ad60caf6a1792d614a75cf77d81b 100644
--- a/scipost_django/journals/forms.py
+++ b/scipost_django/journals/forms.py
@@ -191,7 +191,8 @@ class AbstractJATSForm(forms.ModelForm):
 
 class FundingInfoForm(forms.ModelForm):
     funding_statement = forms.CharField(
-        widget=forms.Textarea({"placeholder": "Paste the funding info statement here"})
+        required=False,
+        widget=forms.Textarea({"placeholder": "Paste the funding info statement here"}),
     )
 
     class Meta:
diff --git a/scipost_django/journals/views.py b/scipost_django/journals/views.py
index 8e09a3f321d81c13381fff620bc1413febd2eb7e..f9f4580180390d98d950a87be1bb46c554ac5295 100644
--- a/scipost_django/journals/views.py
+++ b/scipost_django/journals/views.py
@@ -960,6 +960,15 @@ class FundingInfoView(
     form_class = FundingInfoForm
     template_name = "journals/create_funding_info_metadata.html"
 
+    # Delete the funding statement if the form is submitted empty
+    def form_valid(self, form):
+        if form.cleaned_data.get("funding_statement", "") == "":
+            self.object.metadata["funding_statement"] = ""
+            self.object.save()
+            return redirect(self.get_success_url())
+
+        return super().form_valid(form)
+
 
 @permission_required("scipost.can_draft_publication", return_403=True)
 @transaction.atomic