diff --git a/src/app/shared/handle.service.spec.ts b/src/app/shared/handle.service.spec.ts
index a499bdd464d..8203940c6ad 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/handle.service.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/handle.service.spec.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-import { HandleService } from './handle.service';
+import { HandleService, CANONICAL_PREFIX_KEY } from './handle.service';
 import { TestBed } from '@angular/core/testing';
 import { ConfigurationDataServiceStub } from './testing/configuration-data.service.stub';
 import { ConfigurationDataService } from '../core/data/configuration-data.service';
-import { of as observableOf } from 'rxjs';
+import { createSuccessfulRemoteDataObject$ } from './remote-data.utils';
+import { ConfigurationProperty } from '../core/shared/configuration-property.model';
 
 describe('HandleService', () => {
   let service: HandleService;
@@ -22,7 +23,11 @@ describe('HandleService', () => {
 
   describe(`normalizeHandle`, () => {
     it('should normalize a handle url with custom conical prefix with trailing slash', (done: DoneFn) => {
-      service.canonicalPrefix$ = observableOf('https://hdl.handle.net/');
+      spyOn(configurationService, 'findByPropertyName').and.returnValue(createSuccessfulRemoteDataObject$({
+        ... new ConfigurationProperty(),
+        name: CANONICAL_PREFIX_KEY,
+        values: ['https://hdl.handle.net/'],
+      }));
 
       service.normalizeHandle('https://hdl.handle.net/123456789/123456').subscribe((handle: string | null) => {
         expect(handle).toBe('123456789/123456');
@@ -31,7 +36,11 @@ describe('HandleService', () => {
     });
 
     it('should normalize a handle url with custom conical prefix without trailing slash', (done: DoneFn) => {
-      service.canonicalPrefix$ = observableOf('https://hdl.handle.net');
+      spyOn(configurationService, 'findByPropertyName').and.returnValue(createSuccessfulRemoteDataObject$({
+        ... new ConfigurationProperty(),
+        name: CANONICAL_PREFIX_KEY,
+        values: ['https://hdl.handle.net/'],
+      }));
 
       service.normalizeHandle('https://hdl.handle.net/123456789/123456').subscribe((handle: string | null) => {
         expect(handle).toBe('123456789/123456');
diff --git a/src/app/shared/handle.service.ts b/src/app/shared/handle.service.ts
index 56b3922753b..1f22c7d3045 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/handle.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/handle.service.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { ConfigurationDataService } from '../core/data/configuration-data.servic
 import { getFirstCompletedRemoteData } from '../core/shared/operators';
 import { map, take } from 'rxjs/operators';
 import { ConfigurationProperty } from '../core/shared/configuration-property.model';
-import { Observable } from 'rxjs';
+import { Observable, of as observableOf } from 'rxjs';
 import { RemoteData } from '../core/data/remote-data';
 
 export const CANONICAL_PREFIX_KEY = 'handle.canonical.prefix';
@@ -20,22 +20,9 @@ const NO_PREFIX_REGEX = /^([^\/]+\/[^\/]+)$/;
 })
 export class HandleService {
 
-  canonicalPrefix$: Observable<string | undefined>;
-
   constructor(
     protected configurationService: ConfigurationDataService,
   ) {
-    this.canonicalPrefix$ = this.configurationService.findByPropertyName(CANONICAL_PREFIX_KEY).pipe(
-      getFirstCompletedRemoteData(),
-      take(1),
-      map((configurationPropertyRD: RemoteData<ConfigurationProperty>) => {
-        if (configurationPropertyRD.hasSucceeded) {
-          return configurationPropertyRD.payload.values.length >= 1 ? configurationPropertyRD.payload.values[0] : undefined;
-        } else {
-          return undefined;
-        }
-      }),
-    );
   }
 
   /**
@@ -55,12 +42,20 @@ export class HandleService {
    * </ul>
    */
   normalizeHandle(handle: string): Observable<string | null> {
-    return this.canonicalPrefix$.pipe(
+    if (hasNoValue(handle)) {
+      return observableOf(null);
+    }
+    return this.configurationService.findByPropertyName(CANONICAL_PREFIX_KEY).pipe(
+      getFirstCompletedRemoteData(),
+      map((configurationPropertyRD: RemoteData<ConfigurationProperty>) => {
+        if (configurationPropertyRD.hasSucceeded) {
+          return configurationPropertyRD.payload.values.length >= 1 ? configurationPropertyRD.payload.values[0] : undefined;
+        } else {
+          return undefined;
+        }
+      }),
       map((prefix: string | undefined) => {
         let matches: string[];
-        if (hasNoValue(handle)) {
-          return null;
-        }
 
         matches = handle.match(PREFIX_REGEX(prefix));
 
diff --git a/src/app/shared/theme-support/theme.model.ts b/src/app/shared/theme-support/theme.model.ts
index ce470dedc07..470f09853c3 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/theme-support/theme.model.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/theme-support/theme.model.ts
@@ -44,27 +44,26 @@ export class RegExTheme extends Theme {
 
 export class HandleTheme extends Theme {
 
-  private normalizedHandle$: Observable<string | null>;
-
   constructor(public config: HandleThemeConfig,
               protected handleService: HandleService
   ) {
     super(config);
-    this.normalizedHandle$ = this.handleService.normalizeHandle(this.config.handle).pipe(
-      take(1),
-    );
   }
 
   matches<T extends DSpaceObject & HandleObject>(url: string, dso: T): Observable<boolean> {
-    return combineLatest([
-      this.handleService.normalizeHandle(dso?.handle),
-      this.normalizedHandle$,
-    ]).pipe(
-      map(([handle, normalizedHandle]: [string | null, string | null]) => {
-        return hasValue(dso) && hasValue(dso.handle) && handle === normalizedHandle;
-      }),
-      take(1),
-    );
+    if (hasValue(dso?.handle)) {
+      return combineLatest([
+        this.handleService.normalizeHandle(dso?.handle),
+        this.handleService.normalizeHandle(this.config.handle),
+      ]).pipe(
+        map(([handle, normalizedHandle]: [string | null, string | null]) => {
+          return hasValue(dso) && hasValue(dso.handle) && handle === normalizedHandle;
+        }),
+        take(1),
+      );
+    } else {
+      return observableOf(false);
+    }
   }
 }