diff --git a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/content/dao/impl/ItemForMetadataEnhancementUpdateDAOImpl.java b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/content/dao/impl/ItemForMetadataEnhancementUpdateDAOImpl.java
index db8b988f94af..8ffe2d5de534 100644
--- a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/content/dao/impl/ItemForMetadataEnhancementUpdateDAOImpl.java
+++ b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/content/dao/impl/ItemForMetadataEnhancementUpdateDAOImpl.java
@@ -88,14 +88,14 @@ public int saveAffectedItemsForUpdate(Context context, UUID uuid) {
                         + " SELECT dspace_object_id FROM metadatavalue " + " WHERE metadata_field_id IN"
                         + "     ( SELECT metadata_field_id FROM metadatafieldregistry "
                         + "                WHERE metadata_schema_id = :schema AND element = 'virtualsource')"
-                        + "     AND substring(text_value,1,36) = :uuid)";
+                        + "     AND SUBSTRING(text_value,1,36) = :uuid)";
                 String sqlInsert =
                         "INSERT INTO itemupdate_metadata_enhancement (uuid, date_queued)"
                         + " SELECT DISTINCT dspace_object_id, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP FROM metadatavalue "
                         + " WHERE metadata_field_id IN"
                         + "     ( SELECT metadata_field_id FROM metadatafieldregistry "
                         + "                WHERE metadata_schema_id = :schema AND element = 'virtualsource')"
-                        + "     AND substring(text_value,1,36) = :uuid "
+                        + "     AND SUBSTRING(text_value,1,36) = :uuid "
                         + "     AND dspace_object_id NOT IN ("
                         + "             SELECT uuid"
                         + "             FROM itemupdate_metadata_enhancement"
diff --git a/dspace-api/src/main/resources/org/dspace/storage/rdbms/sqlmigration/h2/V7.6_2024.04.09__create_idx_optimize_item_poller.sql b/dspace-api/src/main/resources/org/dspace/storage/rdbms/sqlmigration/h2/V7.6_2024.04.09__create_idx_optimize_item_poller.sql
index a3dbfb01d025..cda4d33018d4 100644
--- a/dspace-api/src/main/resources/org/dspace/storage/rdbms/sqlmigration/h2/V7.6_2024.04.09__create_idx_optimize_item_poller.sql
+++ b/dspace-api/src/main/resources/org/dspace/storage/rdbms/sqlmigration/h2/V7.6_2024.04.09__create_idx_optimize_item_poller.sql
@@ -10,5 +10,7 @@
 -- Create INDEXES to optimize exact query over the metadatavalue
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-CREATE INDEX idx_text_value_hash ON metadatavalue (substring(text_value,1,36));
+-- we cannot create the idx related to the text_value substring in H2 as index on
+-- expression are not supported, see https://github.com/h2database/h2database/issues/3535
+-- CREATE INDEX idx_text_value_hash ON metadatavalue (SUBSTRING(text_value,1,36));
 CREATE INDEX idx_authority_hash ON metadatavalue (authority);
\ No newline at end of file