diff --git a/servers/slapd/modify.c b/servers/slapd/modify.c
index f8f709244d..f840262208 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/modify.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/modify.c
@@ -554,6 +554,12 @@ int slap_mods_check(
 		/* convert to attribute description */
 		if ( ml->sml_desc == NULL ) {
 			rc = slap_bv2ad( &ml->sml_type, &ml->sml_desc, text );
+			if( rc != LDAP_SUCCESS ) {
+				if ( get_no_schema_check( op )) {
+					rc = slap_bv2undef_ad( &ml->sml_type, &ml->sml_desc,
+						text, 0 );
+				}
+			}
 			if( rc != LDAP_SUCCESS ) {
 				snprintf( textbuf, textlen, "%s: %s",
 					ml->sml_type.bv_val, *text );