diff --git a/packages/payload/src/collections/operations/utilities/update.ts b/packages/payload/src/collections/operations/utilities/update.ts
index e371a09a1..93bbeff3d 100644
--- a/packages/payload/src/collections/operations/utilities/update.ts
+++ b/packages/payload/src/collections/operations/utilities/update.ts
@@ -237,9 +237,11 @@ export const updateDocument = async <
     overrideAccess,
     req,
     skipValidation:
-      shouldSaveDraft &&
-      collectionConfig.versions.drafts &&
-      !collectionConfig.versions.drafts.validate,
+      (shouldSaveDraft &&
+        collectionConfig.versions.drafts &&
+        !collectionConfig.versions.drafts.validate) ||
+      // Skip validation for trash operations since they're just metadata updates
+      Boolean(data?.deletedAt),
   }
 
   if (publishSpecificLocale) {
diff --git a/test/trash/collections/Posts/index.ts b/test/trash/collections/Posts/index.ts
index f1a7867ff..d37cdb6be 100644
--- a/test/trash/collections/Posts/index.ts
+++ b/test/trash/collections/Posts/index.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ export const Posts: CollectionConfig = {
     {
       name: 'title',
       type: 'text',
+      required: true,
     },
   ],
   versions: {
diff --git a/test/trash/int.spec.ts b/test/trash/int.spec.ts
index 0f0b9a49c..e7d3a0e6a 100644
--- a/test/trash/int.spec.ts
+++ b/test/trash/int.spec.ts
@@ -648,6 +648,43 @@ describe('trash', () => {
       })
     })
 
+    describe('trashing documents with validation issues', () => {
+      it('should allow trashing documents with empty required fields (draft scenario)', async () => {
+        // Create a draft document with empty required field
+        const draftDoc = await payload.create({
+          collection: postsSlug,
+          data: {
+            title: '', // Empty required field
+            _status: 'draft',
+          },
+          draft: true,
+        })
+
+        expect(draftDoc.title).toBe('')
+        expect(draftDoc._status).toBe('draft')
+
+        // Should be able to trash the document even with empty required field
+        const trashedDoc = await payload.update({
+          collection: postsSlug,
+          id: draftDoc.id,
+          data: {
+            deletedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+          },
+        })
+
+        expect(trashedDoc.deletedAt).toBeDefined()
+        expect(trashedDoc.title).toBe('') // Title should still be empty
+        expect(trashedDoc._status).toBe('draft')
+
+        // Clean up
+        await payload.delete({
+          collection: postsSlug,
+          id: draftDoc.id,
+          trash: true,
+        })
+      })
+    })
+
     describe('deleteByID operation', () => {
       it('should throw NotFound error when trying to delete a soft-deleted document w/o trash: true', async () => {
         await expect(
diff --git a/test/trash/payload-types.ts b/test/trash/payload-types.ts
index b490d8560..95880b376 100644
--- a/test/trash/payload-types.ts
+++ b/test/trash/payload-types.ts
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ export interface Page {
  */
 export interface Post {
   id: string;
-  title?: string | null;
+  title: string;
   updatedAt: string;
   createdAt: string;
   deletedAt?: string | null;