diff --git a/frontend/src/component/feature/FeatureStrategy/FeatureStrategyConstraints/EditableConstraint/AddSingleValueWidget.tsx b/frontend/src/component/feature/FeatureStrategy/FeatureStrategyConstraints/EditableConstraint/AddSingleValueWidget.tsx
index 91ff7b408c..200132fa78 100644
--- a/frontend/src/component/feature/FeatureStrategy/FeatureStrategyConstraints/EditableConstraint/AddSingleValueWidget.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/component/feature/FeatureStrategy/FeatureStrategyConstraints/EditableConstraint/AddSingleValueWidget.tsx
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@ import { ValueChip } from './ValueList.tsx';
 import { AddValuesPopover, type OnAddActions } from './AddValuesPopover.tsx';
 import type { ConstraintValidatorOutput } from './ConstraintValidatorOutput.ts';
 
+// No, escape handling doesn't work correctly with chips and popovers in MUI v5.
+// This is an intentional trade-off for now because the chip makes it easy to
+// use delete/backspace to clear the value and otherwise works pretty well (cf
+// https://github.com/Unleash/unleash/pull/9859).
+//
+// In MUI v6 and onwards this will "just work"
+// (https://mui.com/material-ui/migration/upgrade-to-v6/#chip)
 const StyledChip = styled(ValueChip, {
     shouldForwardProp: (prop) => prop !== 'hasValue',
 })<{ hasValue: boolean }>(({ theme, hasValue }) => ({
diff --git a/frontend/src/component/feature/FeatureStrategy/FeatureStrategyConstraints/EditableConstraint/AddValuesPopover.tsx b/frontend/src/component/feature/FeatureStrategy/FeatureStrategyConstraints/EditableConstraint/AddValuesPopover.tsx
index 6da67aa321..398470b404 100644
--- a/frontend/src/component/feature/FeatureStrategy/FeatureStrategyConstraints/EditableConstraint/AddValuesPopover.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/component/feature/FeatureStrategy/FeatureStrategyConstraints/EditableConstraint/AddValuesPopover.tsx
@@ -80,14 +80,7 @@ export const AddValuesPopover: FC<AddValuesProps> = ({
         <StyledPopover
             open={open}
             onTransitionEnter={() => {
-                if (inputValue && !initialValue?.trim()) {
-                    // if the input value is not empty and the current value is
-                    // empty or whitespace
-                    setInputValue('');
-                } else if (inputValue) {
-                    // select the text in the input field
-                    inputRef?.current?.select();
-                }
+                inputRef?.current?.select();
             }}
             disableScrollLock
             anchorEl={anchorEl}