diff --git a/scripts/apps/authoring-react/field-adapters/authors.tsx b/scripts/apps/authoring-react/field-adapters/authors.tsx
index dc8b3eab50..018807e2bd 100644
--- a/scripts/apps/authoring-react/field-adapters/authors.tsx
+++ b/scripts/apps/authoring-react/field-adapters/authors.tsx
@@ -67,7 +67,6 @@ export const authors: IFieldAdapter<IArticle> = {
                     lookup: {},
                 });
             },
-            canSelectBranchWithChildren: () => false,
             getLabel: (item: IUserOption | IAuthorRole) => item.name,
             valueTemplate: valueTemplate,
             optionTemplate: optionTemplate,
diff --git a/scripts/apps/authoring-react/field-adapters/subject.tsx b/scripts/apps/authoring-react/field-adapters/subject.tsx
index f2cb942ba9..6d001e053e 100644
--- a/scripts/apps/authoring-react/field-adapters/subject.tsx
+++ b/scripts/apps/authoring-react/field-adapters/subject.tsx
@@ -1,36 +1,23 @@
-import {mapValues, memoize} from 'lodash';
-import {IArticle, IAuthoringFieldV2, IFieldAdapter, IDropdownTreeConfig, ITreeWithLookup} from 'superdesk-api';
+import {
+    IArticle,
+    IAuthoringFieldV2,
+    IFieldAdapter,
+    ISubjectCode,
+    IDropdownConfigManualSource,
+} from 'superdesk-api';
 import {gettext} from 'core/utils';
-import {arrayToTree, sortTree} from 'core/helpers/tree';
 import {store} from 'core/data';
 
-type ISubjectCode = {qcode: string; name: string; parent?: string};
-
 export function getSubjectAdapter(): IFieldAdapter<IArticle> {
-    const getItems: () => ITreeWithLookup<ISubjectCode> = memoize(() => {
-        const subjectCodes = store.getState().subjectCodes;
-
-        return ({
-            nodes: sortTree(
-                arrayToTree(
-                    Object.values(subjectCodes),
-                    (item) => item.qcode,
-                    (item) => item.parent ?? null,
-                ).result,
-                (a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name),
-            ),
-            lookup: mapValues(subjectCodes, (value) => ({value})),
-        });
-    });
-
     return {
-        getFieldV2: (fieldEditor, fieldSchema) => {
-            const fieldConfig: IDropdownTreeConfig = {
-                source: 'dropdown-tree',
-                getItems,
-                getLabel: (item: ISubjectCode) => item.name,
-                getId: (item: ISubjectCode) => item.qcode,
-                canSelectBranchWithChildren: () => true,
+        getFieldV2: () => {
+            const fieldConfig: IDropdownConfigManualSource = {
+                source: 'manual-entry',
+                options: Object.values(store.getState().subjectCodes)
+                    .map((x) => ({id: x.qcode, label: x.name, parent: x.parent})),
+                roundCorners: true,
+                type: 'text',
+                canSelectBranchWithChildren: true,
                 multiple: true,
             };
 
@@ -43,30 +30,13 @@ export function getSubjectAdapter(): IFieldAdapter<IArticle> {
 
             return fieldV2;
         },
-        retrieveStoredValue: (article): Array<ISubjectCode> => {
-            return (article.subject ?? [])
-                .filter(({scheme}) => scheme == null) // filter out custom vocabulary data
-                .map(({qcode, name, parent}) => ({qcode, name, parent}));
+        retrieveStoredValue: (article): Array<ISubjectCode['qcode']> => {
+            return (article.subject ?? []).map((x) => x.qcode);
         },
-        storeValue: (val: Array<ISubjectCode>, article) => {
-            interface IStorageFormat {
-                qcode: string;
-                name: string;
-                parent?: string;
-                scheme: string;
-            }
-
+        storeValue: (val: Array<ISubjectCode['qcode']>, article) => {
             return {
                 ...article,
-                subject: val.map(({qcode, name, parent}) => {
-                    var itemToStore: IStorageFormat = {qcode, name, parent, scheme: null};
-
-                    if (parent != null) {
-                        itemToStore.parent = parent;
-                    }
-
-                    return itemToStore;
-                }),
+                subject: Object.values(store.getState().subjectCodes).filter((x) => val.includes(x.qcode)),
             };
         },
     };
diff --git a/scripts/apps/authoring-react/fields/dropdown/editor-using-manual-source-or-vocabulary.tsx b/scripts/apps/authoring-react/fields/dropdown/editor-using-manual-source-or-vocabulary.tsx
index dcc3e1f1d0..040e775412 100644
--- a/scripts/apps/authoring-react/fields/dropdown/editor-using-manual-source-or-vocabulary.tsx
+++ b/scripts/apps/authoring-react/fields/dropdown/editor-using-manual-source-or-vocabulary.tsx
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ export class EditorUsingManualSourceOrVocabulary extends React.PureComponent<IPr
                     kind="synchronous"
                     getOptions={() => options}
                     values={selected}
+                    canSelectBranchWithChildren={config.canSelectBranchWithChildren}
                     onChange={(_values) => {
                         const ids = _values.map((val) => val.id);
 
diff --git a/scripts/core/superdesk-api.d.ts b/scripts/core/superdesk-api.d.ts
index be14ae9e89..a2691b98be 100644
--- a/scripts/core/superdesk-api.d.ts
+++ b/scripts/core/superdesk-api.d.ts
@@ -355,6 +355,7 @@ declare module 'superdesk-api' {
         vocabularyId: IVocabulary['_id'];
         multiple: boolean;
         filter?(vocabulary: IVocabularyItem): boolean;
+        canSelectBranchWithChildren?: boolean;
     }
 
     export interface IDropdownConfigRemoteSource extends ICommonFieldConfig {
@@ -366,18 +367,22 @@ declare module 'superdesk-api' {
         ): void;
         getLabel(item: unknown): string;
         getId(item: unknown): string;
-        canSelectBranchWithChildren?(branch: ITreeNode<unknown>): boolean;
+        canSelectBranchWithChildren?: boolean;
         optionTemplate?: React.ComponentType<{item: unknown}>;
         valueTemplate?: React.ComponentType<{item: unknown}>;
         multiple: boolean;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Prioritize using IDropdownConfigManualSource/IDropdownConfigVocabulary/IDropdownConfigRemoteSource
+     * if any of those can satisfy your use-case
+     */
     export interface IDropdownTreeConfig extends ICommonFieldConfig {
         source: 'dropdown-tree';
         getItems(): ITreeWithLookup<unknown>;
         getLabel(item: unknown): string;
         getId(item: unknown): string;
-        canSelectBranchWithChildren?(branch: ITreeNode<unknown>): boolean;
+        canSelectBranchWithChildren?: boolean;
         optionTemplate?: React.ComponentType<{item: unknown}>;
         valueTemplate?: React.ComponentType<{item: unknown}>;
         multiple: boolean;
@@ -389,6 +394,7 @@ declare module 'superdesk-api' {
         options: Array<IDropdownOption>;
         roundCorners: boolean;
         multiple: boolean;
+        canSelectBranchWithChildren?: boolean;
     }
 
     export type IDropdownConfig =
diff --git a/scripts/core/ui/components/MultiSelectTreeWithTemplate.tsx b/scripts/core/ui/components/MultiSelectTreeWithTemplate.tsx
index 6a29b23b11..19209f8ef3 100644
--- a/scripts/core/ui/components/MultiSelectTreeWithTemplate.tsx
+++ b/scripts/core/ui/components/MultiSelectTreeWithTemplate.tsx
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ interface IPropsBase<T> {
     valueTemplate?: React.ComponentType<{item: T}>;
     getId(item: T): string;
     getLabel(item: T): string;
-    canSelectBranchWithChildren?(branch: ITreeNode<T>): boolean;
+    canSelectBranchWithChildren?: boolean;
     allowMultiple?: boolean;
     readOnly?: boolean;
 }
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ export class MultiSelectTreeWithTemplate<T> extends React.PureComponent<IProps<T
                     }}
                     getLabel={getLabel}
                     getId={getId}
-                    selectBranchWithChildren={false}
+                    selectBranchWithChildren={props.canSelectBranchWithChildren ?? false}
                     optionTemplate={(item) => <OptionTemplate item={item} />}
                     valueTemplate={(item, Wrapper) => <Wrapper><ValueTemplate item={item} /></Wrapper>}
                     allowMultiple={this.props.allowMultiple}
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ export class MultiSelectTreeWithTemplate<T> extends React.PureComponent<IProps<T
                     }}
                     getLabel={getLabel}
                     getId={getId}
-                    selectBranchWithChildren={false}
+                    selectBranchWithChildren={props.canSelectBranchWithChildren ?? false}
                     optionTemplate={(item) => <OptionTemplate item={item} />}
                     valueTemplate={(item) => <ValueTemplate item={item} />}
                     allowMultiple={this.props.allowMultiple}