diff --git a/CRM/Contact/Form/Merge.php b/CRM/Contact/Form/Merge.php
index a637fbf726bf..a56d38e7d571 100644
--- a/CRM/Contact/Form/Merge.php
+++ b/CRM/Contact/Form/Merge.php
@@ -225,13 +225,16 @@ public function preProcess() {
           // @todo consider enabling if it is an add & defaulting to true.
           $element[4] = array_merge((array) CRM_Utils_Array::value(4, $element, []), ['disabled' => TRUE]);
         }
-        $this->addElement($element[0],
+        $newCheckBox = $this->addElement($element[0],
           $element[1],
           array_key_exists('2', $element) ? $element[2] : NULL,
           array_key_exists('3', $element) ? $element[3] : NULL,
           array_key_exists('4', $element) ? $element[4] : NULL,
           array_key_exists('5', $element) ? $element[5] : NULL
         );
+        if (!empty($element['is_checked'])) {
+          $newCheckBox->setChecked(TRUE);
+        }
       }
 
       // add related table elements
diff --git a/CRM/Dedupe/Merger.php b/CRM/Dedupe/Merger.php
index 9c1f0b31143b..9b65f2201769 100644
--- a/CRM/Dedupe/Merger.php
+++ b/CRM/Dedupe/Merger.php
@@ -1109,12 +1109,13 @@ public static function getRowsElementsAndInfo($mainId, $otherId, $checkPermissio
       // Display a checkbox to migrate, only if the values are different
       if ($value != $main[$field]) {
         $elements[] = [
-          'advcheckbox',
-          "move_$field",
-          NULL,
-          NULL,
-          NULL,
-          $value,
+          0 => 'advcheckbox',
+          1 => "move_$field",
+          2 => NULL,
+          3 => NULL,
+          4 => NULL,
+          5 => $value,
+          'is_checked' => (!isset($main[$field]) || $main[$field] === ''),
         ];
       }