diff --git a/dspace-oai/src/main/java/org/dspace/xoai/app/XOAI.java b/dspace-oai/src/main/java/org/dspace/xoai/app/XOAI.java
index 2db53bff9be5..1f608ab01794 100644
--- a/dspace-oai/src/main/java/org/dspace/xoai/app/XOAI.java
+++ b/dspace-oai/src/main/java/org/dspace/xoai/app/XOAI.java
@@ -400,8 +400,11 @@ private SolrInputDocument index(Item item)
         doc.addField("item.id", item.getID().toString());
 
         String legacyOaiId = itemService.getMetadataFirstValue(item, "dspace", "legacy", "oai-identifier", Item.ANY);
-        String handle = StringUtils.isNotEmpty(legacyOaiId) ? legacyOaiId.split(":")[2] : item.getHandle();
-        doc.addField("item.handle", handle);
+        String handle = item.getHandle();
+        doc.addField("item.handle", item.getHandle());
+        if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(legacyOaiId)) {
+            doc.addField("item.legacyoaiidentifier", legacyOaiId.split(":")[2]);
+        }
 
         boolean isEmbargoed = !this.isPublic(item);
         boolean isCurrentlyVisible = this.checkIfVisibleInOAI(item);
diff --git a/dspace-oai/src/main/java/org/dspace/xoai/data/DSpaceItem.java b/dspace-oai/src/main/java/org/dspace/xoai/data/DSpaceItem.java
index d1f78ee67152..b179229987da 100644
--- a/dspace-oai/src/main/java/org/dspace/xoai/data/DSpaceItem.java
+++ b/dspace-oai/src/main/java/org/dspace/xoai/data/DSpaceItem.java
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@ public List<About> getAbout() {
 
     @Override
     public String getIdentifier() {
-        return buildIdentifier(getHandle());
+        return !getMetadata("dspace","legacy", "oai-identifier").isEmpty() ?
+                getMetadata("dspace","legacy", "oai-identifier").get(0) : buildIdentifier(getHandle());
     }
 
     private static class MetadataNamePredicate implements Predicate<Element> {
diff --git a/dspace-oai/src/main/java/org/dspace/xoai/services/impl/xoai/DSpaceItemSolrRepository.java b/dspace-oai/src/main/java/org/dspace/xoai/services/impl/xoai/DSpaceItemSolrRepository.java
index 281095e01aab..fc08fb6fb413 100644
--- a/dspace-oai/src/main/java/org/dspace/xoai/services/impl/xoai/DSpaceItemSolrRepository.java
+++ b/dspace-oai/src/main/java/org/dspace/xoai/services/impl/xoai/DSpaceItemSolrRepository.java
@@ -59,8 +59,13 @@ public Item getItem(String identifier) throws IdDoesNotExistException {
         String parts[] = identifier.split(Pattern.quote(":"));
         if (parts.length == 3) {
             try {
-                SolrQuery params = new SolrQuery("item.handle:" + parts[2]);
-                return new DSpaceSolrItem(DSpaceSolrSearch.querySingle(server, params));
+                try {
+                    SolrQuery params = new SolrQuery("item.legacyoaiidentifier:" + parts[2]);
+                    return new DSpaceSolrItem(DSpaceSolrSearch.querySingle(server, params));
+                } catch (SolrSearchEmptyException ex) {
+                    SolrQuery altParams = new SolrQuery("item.handle:" + parts[2]);
+                    return new DSpaceSolrItem(DSpaceSolrSearch.querySingle(server, altParams));
+                }
             } catch (SolrSearchEmptyException | IOException ex) {
                 throw new IdDoesNotExistException(ex);
             }
diff --git a/dspace/solr/oai/conf/schema.xml b/dspace/solr/oai/conf/schema.xml
index b2f61c2de9dd..9881e18c375a 100644
--- a/dspace/solr/oai/conf/schema.xml
+++ b/dspace/solr/oai/conf/schema.xml
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@
    <field name="item.id" type="uuid" indexed="true" stored="true" multiValued="false" />
    <field name="item.public" type="boolean" indexed="true" stored="true" multiValued="false" />
    <field name="item.handle" type="string" indexed="true" stored="true" multiValued="false" />
+   <field name="item.legacyoaiidentifier" type="string" indexed="true" stored="true" multiValued="false" />
    <field name="item.collections" type="string" indexed="true" stored="true" multiValued="true" />
    <field name="item.communities" type="string" indexed="true" stored="true" multiValued="true" />
    <field name="item.lastmodified" type="date" indexed="true" stored="true" multiValued="false" />