diff --git a/django/library/doi.py b/django/library/doi.py
index 26965b167..9cc98b83c 100644
--- a/django/library/doi.py
+++ b/django/library/doi.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 
 # prefix differs across (dev + staging) and production
 DATACITE_PREFIX = settings.DATACITE_PREFIX
+DOI_PATTERN = re.compile(f"{DATACITE_PREFIX}/[-._;()/:a-zA-Z0-9]+")
 
 MAX_DATACITE_API_WORKERS = 25
 
@@ -99,8 +100,9 @@ def print_console_message(dry_run: bool, interactive: bool):
 
 def is_valid_doi(doi: str) -> bool:
     # checks if DOI is formatted like this "00.12345/q2xt-rj46"
-    pattern = re.compile(f"{DATACITE_PREFIX}/[-._;()/:a-zA-Z0-9]+")
-    return re.match(pattern, doi)
+    if doi:
+        return re.match(DOI_PATTERN, doi)
+    return False
 
 
 class DataCiteApi: