diff --git a/src/importer/class-tainacan-csv.php b/src/importer/class-tainacan-csv.php
index 7a050c22d..3745ca4b3 100644
--- a/src/importer/class-tainacan-csv.php
+++ b/src/importer/class-tainacan-csv.php
@@ -140,6 +140,10 @@ class CSV extends Importer {
             return false;
         }
         
+        if( $this->get_option('item_id_index') ){
+            $this->handle_item_id( $values );
+        }
+        
         foreach ( $collection_definition['mapping'] as $metadatum_id => $header) {
             $metadatum = new \Tainacan\Entities\Metadatum($metadatum_id);
 
@@ -562,6 +566,9 @@ class CSV extends Importer {
         
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @param $status string the item ID
+     */
     private function handle_item_id( $values ){
         $item_id_index = $this->set_option('item_id_index');
         
diff --git a/src/importer/class-tainacan-importer.php b/src/importer/class-tainacan-importer.php
index db7b25e68..bd39a9e07 100644
--- a/src/importer/class-tainacan-importer.php
+++ b/src/importer/class-tainacan-importer.php
@@ -786,7 +786,7 @@ abstract class Importer {
 		$Tainacan_Metadata->disable_logs();
 		$Tainacan_Item_Metadata->disable_logs();
 
-        $item = new Entities\Item();
+        $item = new Entities\Item( ( $this->get_transient('item_id') ) ? $this->get_transient('item_id') : 0 );
 		$itemMetadataArray = [];
 		
         if( is_array( $processed_item ) ){