# EPUBCheck OPF-072: empty Dublin Core element, how to fix it

Source: https://epubcc.com/epubcheck/opf-072/ (updated 2026-11-04)

EPUBCheck OPF-072 is a usage message: “Metadata element "…" is empty.” A Dublin Core metadata element in an EPUB 2 package document is empty, and EPUBCheck names it. It is a usage note (shown with -u), but an empty field still gives reading apps nothing to display.

- Official message (EPUBCheck 5.4.0): Metadata element "%1$s" is empty.
- Default severity: Usage

## Typical causes

- Empty elements such as dc:subject, dc:publisher or dc:description created by a tool without values.
- Fields exported from a catalogue where the value was blank.
- A value removed by hand while the element stayed.

## How to fix it

1. Find the element EPUBCheck names.
2. Fill it with a real value.
3. Or delete it if you have nothing to put there.

## When it's not this

Empty title, identifier or date elements are reported as OPF-055; in EPUB 3 empty metadata is a schema error (RSC-005).

## Sources

- EPUBCheck 5.4.0 message texts (MessageBundle.properties, w3c/epubcheck on GitHub): https://github.com/w3c/epubcheck/blob/v5.4.0/src/main/resources/com/adobe/epubcheck/messages/MessageBundle.properties (read 2026-11-04)

Message text and severity: EPUBCheck (W3C, BSD-3-Clause). Explanation: EpubCC.