diff --git a/apis/record_crud.go b/apis/record_crud.go
index bf0d4a46..767318e8 100644
--- a/apis/record_crud.go
+++ b/apis/record_crud.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/core"
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/forms"
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/tools/filesystem"
+	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/tools/list"
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/tools/router"
 	"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/tools/search"
 )
@@ -561,9 +562,28 @@ func recordDataFromRequest(e *core.RequestEvent, record *core.Record) (map[strin
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	if len(uploadedFiles) > 0 {
-		for k, v := range uploadedFiles {
-			result[k] = v
+		for k, files := range uploadedFiles {
+			uploaded := make([]any, 0, len(files))
+
+			// if not remove/prepend/append -> merge with the submitted
+			// info.Body values to prevent accidental old files deletion
+			if info.Body[k] != nil &&
+				!strings.HasPrefix(k, "+") &&
+				!strings.HasSuffix(k, "+") &&
+				!strings.HasSuffix(k, "-") {
+				existing := list.ToUniqueStringSlice(info.Body[k])
+				for _, name := range existing {
+					uploaded = append(uploaded, name)
+				}
+			}
+
+			for _, file := range files {
+				uploaded = append(uploaded, file)
+			}
+
+			result[k] = uploaded
 		}
+
 		result = record.ReplaceModifiers(result)
 	}
 
diff --git a/apis/record_crud_test.go b/apis/record_crud_test.go
index a86adf84..46dbc91f 100644
--- a/apis/record_crud_test.go
+++ b/apis/record_crud_test.go
@@ -2345,7 +2345,7 @@ func TestRecordCrudUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	formData3, mp3, err3 := tests.MockMultipartData(map[string]string{
-		router.JSONPayloadKey: `{"title": "title_test3", "testPayload": 123}`,
+		router.JSONPayloadKey: `{"title": "title_test3", "testPayload": 123, "files":"300_JdfBOieXAW.png"}`,
 	}, "files")
 	if err3 != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err3)
@@ -2686,6 +2686,8 @@ func TestRecordCrudUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 				`"id":"mk5fmymtx4wsprk"`,
 				`"title":"title_test3"`,
 				`"files":["`,
+				`"300_JdfBOieXAW.png"`,
+				`"tmpfile_`,
 			},
 			ExpectedEvents: map[string]int{
 				"*":                          0,
diff --git a/tests/data/data.db b/tests/data/data.db
index 50892db4..e22b80d1 100644
Binary files a/tests/data/data.db and b/tests/data/data.db differ