diff --git a/api/ocm/cpi/modopts.go b/api/ocm/cpi/modopts.go
index ebdfeab00d..0679dc335b 100644
--- a/api/ocm/cpi/modopts.go
+++ b/api/ocm/cpi/modopts.go
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ func NewTargetElementOptions(list ...TargetElementOption) *TargetElementOptions
 	return &m
 }
 
+func DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting(flag ...bool) internal.TargetOptionImpl {
+	return internal.DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting(flag...)
+}
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 func NewAddVersionOptions(list ...AddVersionOption) *AddVersionOptions {
diff --git a/api/ocm/cpi/repocpi/view_cv.go b/api/ocm/cpi/repocpi/view_cv.go
index 9c97f68099..2e35912679 100644
--- a/api/ocm/cpi/repocpi/view_cv.go
+++ b/api/ocm/cpi/repocpi/view_cv.go
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ func (c *componentVersionAccessView) SetResource(meta *cpi.ResourceMeta, acc com
 		} else {
 			cd.Resources[idx] = *res
 		}
-		if opts.IsModifyElement() {
+		if opts.IsModifyElement() && !opts.IsDisableExtraIdentityDefaulting() {
 			// default handling for completing an extra identity for modifications, only.
 			compdesc.DefaultResources(cd)
 		}
@@ -527,6 +527,7 @@ func (c *componentVersionAccessView) SetSource(meta *cpi.SourceMeta, acc compdes
 		return accessio.ErrReadOnly
 	}
 
+	opts := cpi.NewTargetElementOptions(optlist...)
 	res := &compdesc.Source{
 		SourceMeta: *meta.Copy(),
 		Access:     acc,
@@ -548,7 +549,9 @@ func (c *componentVersionAccessView) SetSource(meta *cpi.SourceMeta, acc compdes
 		} else {
 			cd.Sources[idx] = *res
 		}
-		compdesc.DefaultSources(cd)
+		if !opts.IsDisableExtraIdentityDefaulting() {
+			compdesc.DefaultSources(cd)
+		}
 		return c.bridge.Update(false)
 	})
 }
@@ -584,7 +587,7 @@ func (c *componentVersionAccessView) SetReference(ref *cpi.ComponentReference, o
 			cd.References[idx].Equivalent(ref)
 			cd.References[idx] = *ref
 		}
-		if opts.IsModifyElement(moddef) {
+		if opts.IsModifyElement(moddef) && !opts.IsDisableExtraIdentityDefaulting() {
 			compdesc.DefaultReferences(cd)
 		}
 		return c.bridge.Update(false)
diff --git a/api/ocm/internal/modopts.go b/api/ocm/internal/modopts.go
index 3732c59434..df43fc40f3 100644
--- a/api/ocm/internal/modopts.go
+++ b/api/ocm/internal/modopts.go
@@ -108,6 +108,10 @@ type TargetOptionImpl interface {
 
 type TargetElementOptions struct {
 	TargetElement TargetElement
+
+	// DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting disables the implicit defaulting of the extraIdentity.
+	// A transfer operation must set this flag to preserve the normalizations.
+	DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting *bool
 }
 
 type TargetElementOption interface {
@@ -128,6 +132,11 @@ func (m *TargetElementOptions) ApplyElementModificationOption(opts *ElementModif
 
 func (m *TargetElementOptions) ApplyTargetOption(opts *TargetElementOptions) {
 	optionutils.Transfer(&opts.TargetElement, m.TargetElement)
+	optionutils.Transfer(&opts.DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting, m.DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting)
+}
+
+func (m *TargetElementOptions) IsDisableExtraIdentityDefaulting() bool {
+	return utils.AsBool(m.DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting)
 }
 
 func (m *TargetElementOptions) ApplyTargetOptions(list ...TargetElementOption) *TargetElementOptions {
@@ -355,6 +364,31 @@ func (m TargetIdentity) ApplyTargetOption(opts *TargetElementOptions) {
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
+type disableextraidentitydefaulting bool
+
+func (m disableextraidentitydefaulting) ApplyBlobModificationOption(opts *BlobModificationOptions) {
+	m.ApplyModificationOption(&opts.ModificationOptions)
+}
+
+func (m disableextraidentitydefaulting) ApplyModificationOption(opts *ModificationOptions) {
+	m.ApplyTargetOption(&opts.TargetElementOptions)
+}
+
+func (m disableextraidentitydefaulting) ApplyElementModificationOption(opts *ElementModificationOptions) {
+	m.ApplyTargetOption(&opts.TargetElementOptions)
+}
+
+func (m disableextraidentitydefaulting) ApplyTargetOption(opts *TargetElementOptions) {
+	opts.DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting = utils.BoolP(m)
+}
+
+// DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting disables the defaulting of the extra identity.
+func DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting(flag ...bool) TargetOptionImpl {
+	return disableextraidentitydefaulting(utils.OptionalDefaultedBool(true, flag...))
+}
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
 type replaceElement struct{}
 
 var UpdateElement = replaceElement{}
diff --git a/api/ocm/modopts.go b/api/ocm/modopts.go
index a980ae0485..5d0fb9dedf 100644
--- a/api/ocm/modopts.go
+++ b/api/ocm/modopts.go
@@ -66,6 +66,11 @@ func TargetIndex(idx int) internal.TargetOptionImpl {
 	return internal.TargetIndex(idx)
 }
 
+// DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting disables the defaulting of the extra identity
+func DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting(flag ...bool) internal.TargetOptionImpl {
+	return internal.DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting(flag...)
+}
+
 const AppendElement = internal.TargetIndex(-1)
 
 var UpdateElement = internal.UpdateElement
diff --git a/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transfer.go b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transfer.go
index 0e5c9b33c9..ea6f1d9c27 100644
--- a/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transfer.go
+++ b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transfer.go
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ func copyVersion(printer common.Printer, log logging.Logger, hist common.History
 					err = handler.HandleTransferResource(r, m, hint, t)
 				} else {
 					if err == nil { // old resource found -> keep current access method
-						t.SetResource(r.Meta(), old.Access, ocm.ModifyElement(), ocm.SkipVerify())
+						t.SetResource(r.Meta(), old.Access, ocm.ModifyElement(), ocm.SkipVerify(), ocm.DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting())
 					}
 					notifyArtifactInfo(printer, log, "resource", i, r.Meta(), hint, "already present")
 				}
diff --git a/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/compat_test.go b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/compat_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..efb06e6d97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/compat_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+package standard_test
+
+import (
+	. "github.com/mandelsoft/goutils/testutils"
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+	. "ocm.software/ocm/cmds/ocm/testhelper"
+
+	"ocm.software/ocm/api/ocm/extensions/repositories/ctf"
+	"ocm.software/ocm/api/ocm/tools/transfer"
+	"ocm.software/ocm/api/utils/accessio"
+	"ocm.software/ocm/api/utils/accessobj"
+	common "ocm.software/ocm/api/utils/misc"
+)
+
+const COMPAT_ARCH = "/testdata/v0.18.0"
+const COMPAT_COMP = "github.com/mandelsoft/test1"
+const COMPAT_VERS = "1.0.0"
+
+var _ = Describe("Transfer Test Environment", func() {
+	Context("extraid compatibility transfer", func() {
+
+		var env *TestEnv
+
+		BeforeEach(func() {
+			env = NewTestEnv(TestData())
+		})
+
+		It("", func() {
+			src := Must(ctf.Open(env.OCMContext(), accessobj.ACC_READONLY, COMPAT_ARCH, 0, env))
+			defer Close(src, "source")
+			cv := Must(src.LookupComponentVersion(COMPAT_COMP, COMPAT_VERS))
+			defer Close(cv, "source cv")
+			tgt := Must(ctf.Create(env.OCMContext(), accessobj.ACC_WRITABLE|accessobj.ACC_CREATE, OUT, 0o700, accessio.FormatDirectory, env))
+			defer Close(tgt, "target")
+
+			p, buf := common.NewBufferedPrinter()
+			MustBeSuccessful(transfer.Transfer(cv, tgt, transfer.WithPrinter(p)))
+			Expect(env.DirExists(OUT)).To(BeTrue())
+
+			Expect(buf.String()).To(StringEqualTrimmedWithContext(`
+transferring version "github.com/mandelsoft/test1:1.0.0"...
+...resource 0 multi-implicit[plainText]...
+...resource 1 multi-implicit[plainText]...
+...resource 2 multi-explicit[plainText]...
+...resource 3 multi-explicit[plainText]...
+...source 0 multi-implicit[plainText]...
+...source 1 multi-implicit[plainText]...
+...source 2 multi-explicit[plainText]...
+...source 3 multi-explicit[plainText]...
+...adding component version...
+`))
+
+			tcv := Must(tgt.LookupComponentVersion(COMPAT_COMP, COMPAT_VERS))
+			defer Close(tcv, "target cv")
+			Expect(tcv.GetDescriptor()).To(YAMLEqual(cv.GetDescriptor()))
+
+			Expect(tcv.GetDescriptor().Resources[0].ExtraIdentity).To(BeNil())
+			Expect(tcv.GetDescriptor().Resources[1].ExtraIdentity).To(BeNil())
+			Expect(tcv.GetDescriptor().Sources[0].ExtraIdentity).To(BeNil())
+			Expect(tcv.GetDescriptor().Sources[1].ExtraIdentity).To(BeNil())
+		})
+	})
+})
diff --git a/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/handler.go b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/handler.go
index 5792f2cd2e..0f8f7cf6b9 100644
--- a/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/handler.go
+++ b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/handler.go
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ func (h *Handler) HandleTransferResource(r ocm.ResourceAccess, m cpi.AccessMetho
 	}
 	defer blob.Close()
 	return accessio.Retry(h.opts.GetRetries(), time.Second, func() error {
-		return t.SetResourceBlob(r.Meta(), blob, hint, h.GlobalAccess(t.GetContext(), m), ocm.SkipVerify())
+		return t.SetResourceBlob(r.Meta(), blob, hint, h.GlobalAccess(t.GetContext(), m), ocm.SkipVerify(), ocm.DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting())
 	})
 }
 
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ func (h *Handler) HandleTransferSource(r ocm.SourceAccess, m cpi.AccessMethod, h
 	}
 	defer blob.Close()
 	return accessio.Retry(h.opts.GetRetries(), time.Second, func() error {
-		return t.SetSourceBlob(r.Meta(), blob, hint, h.GlobalAccess(t.GetContext(), m))
+		return t.SetSourceBlob(r.Meta(), blob, hint, h.GlobalAccess(t.GetContext(), m), ocm.DisableExtraIdentityDefaulting())
 	})
 }
 
diff --git a/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/artifact-index.json b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/artifact-index.json
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..8aaca543b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/artifact-index.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"schemaVersion":1,"artifacts":[{"repository":"component-descriptors/github.com/mandelsoft/test1","tag":"1.0.0","digest":"sha256:210dda6808d47862660fdf5753d17e2b6152ff31fbd07ff947b821f717f1232a"}]}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.210dda6808d47862660fdf5753d17e2b6152ff31fbd07ff947b821f717f1232a b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.210dda6808d47862660fdf5753d17e2b6152ff31fbd07ff947b821f717f1232a
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..59dcbdde0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.210dda6808d47862660fdf5753d17e2b6152ff31fbd07ff947b821f717f1232a
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"schemaVersion":2,"mediaType":"application/vnd.oci.image.manifest.v1+json","config":{"mediaType":"application/vnd.ocm.software.component.config.v1+json","digest":"sha256:958eb6b2928a569d7aaab2aa924fb236e977bfbc43309908aa9c45b154f689cd","size":201},"layers":[{"mediaType":"application/vnd.ocm.software.component-descriptor.v2+yaml+tar","digest":"sha256:a4b84597729cfa026c51a47e903f449ad7b4a9ec9897f2084b982a66fcdbfb5f","size":4608},{"mediaType":"application/octet-stream","digest":"sha256:916f0027a575074ce72a331777c3478d6513f786a591bd892da1a577bf2335f9","size":9,"annotations":{"software.ocm.artifact":"[{\"kind\":\"resource\",\"identity\":{\"name\":\"multi-implicit\",\"version\":\"v1\"}},{\"kind\":\"resource\",\"identity\":{\"name\":\"multi-explicit\",\"version\":\"v1\"}},{\"kind\":\"source\",\"identity\":{\"name\":\"multi-implicit\",\"version\":\"v1\"}},{\"kind\":\"source\",\"identity\":{\"name\":\"multi-explicit\",\"version\":\"v1\"}}]"}},{"mediaType":"application/octet-stream","digest":"sha256:920ce99fb13b43ca0408caee6e61f6335ea5156d79aa98e733e1ed2393e0f649","size":18,"annotations":{"software.ocm.artifact":"[{\"kind\":\"resource\",\"identity\":{\"name\":\"multi-implicit\",\"version\":\"v2\"}},{\"kind\":\"resource\",\"identity\":{\"name\":\"multi-explicit\",\"version\":\"v2\"}},{\"kind\":\"source\",\"identity\":{\"name\":\"multi-implicit\",\"version\":\"v2\"}},{\"kind\":\"source\",\"identity\":{\"name\":\"multi-explicit\",\"version\":\"v2\"}}]"}}],"annotations":{"software.ocm.componentversion":"github.com/mandelsoft/test1:1.0.0","software.ocm.creator":"OCM Go Library 0.18.0"}}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.916f0027a575074ce72a331777c3478d6513f786a591bd892da1a577bf2335f9 b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.916f0027a575074ce72a331777c3478d6513f786a591bd892da1a577bf2335f9
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0aa6fb5467
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.916f0027a575074ce72a331777c3478d6513f786a591bd892da1a577bf2335f9
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+test data
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.920ce99fb13b43ca0408caee6e61f6335ea5156d79aa98e733e1ed2393e0f649 b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.920ce99fb13b43ca0408caee6e61f6335ea5156d79aa98e733e1ed2393e0f649
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8173e28754
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.920ce99fb13b43ca0408caee6e61f6335ea5156d79aa98e733e1ed2393e0f649
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+extended test data
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.958eb6b2928a569d7aaab2aa924fb236e977bfbc43309908aa9c45b154f689cd b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.958eb6b2928a569d7aaab2aa924fb236e977bfbc43309908aa9c45b154f689cd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c3142a4ab0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.958eb6b2928a569d7aaab2aa924fb236e977bfbc43309908aa9c45b154f689cd
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"componentDescriptorLayer":{"mediaType":"application/vnd.ocm.software.component-descriptor.v2+yaml+tar","digest":"sha256:a4b84597729cfa026c51a47e903f449ad7b4a9ec9897f2084b982a66fcdbfb5f","size":4608}}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.a4b84597729cfa026c51a47e903f449ad7b4a9ec9897f2084b982a66fcdbfb5f b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.a4b84597729cfa026c51a47e903f449ad7b4a9ec9897f2084b982a66fcdbfb5f
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..29fedc243f
Binary files /dev/null and b/api/ocm/tools/transfer/transferhandler/standard/testdata/v0.18.0/blobs/sha256.a4b84597729cfa026c51a47e903f449ad7b4a9ec9897f2084b982a66fcdbfb5f differ