diff --git a/code/modules/hydroponics/hydroponics.dm b/code/modules/hydroponics/hydroponics.dm
index 72117d41187..81a4f83e6a6 100644
--- a/code/modules/hydroponics/hydroponics.dm
+++ b/code/modules/hydroponics/hydroponics.dm
@@ -879,7 +879,7 @@
 		adjustWeeds(-10) //Has a side effect of cleaning up those nasty weeds
 		update_icon()
 	else if(istype(O, /obj/item/pen) && myseed)
-		myseed.variant_prompt(user, src) // adj parameter makes Adjacent use the tray instead of the seed (which would always fail)
+		myseed.variant_prompt(user, src)
 	else
 		return ..()
 
diff --git a/code/modules/hydroponics/seeds.dm b/code/modules/hydroponics/seeds.dm
index 7e245e10154..0b8eee55145 100644
--- a/code/modules/hydroponics/seeds.dm
+++ b/code/modules/hydroponics/seeds.dm
@@ -334,11 +334,19 @@
 
 
 // adj parameter changes what Adjacent is called from, such as the gene modder or a tray
-/obj/item/seeds/proc/variant_prompt(mob/user, obj/item/adj = src)
+/obj/item/seeds/proc/variant_prompt(mob/user, obj/item/container = null)
 	var/V = input(user, "Choose variant name:", "Plant Variant Naming", variant) as text|null
-	if(!adj.Adjacent(user) || isnull(V))
+	if(isnull(V)) // Did the user cancel?
 		return
-	variant = copytext(sanitize(html_encode(trim(V))), 1, 64)
+	if(container)
+		if(loc != container) // Was the seed removed from the container?
+			return
+		if(!container.Adjacent(user)) // No remote renaming
+			return
+	else
+		if(!Adjacent(user)) // No remote renaming
+			return
+	variant = copytext(sanitize(html_encode(trim(V))), 1, 64) // Sanitization must happen after null check because it converts nulls to empty strings
 	if(variant == "")
 		variant = null
 	to_chat(user, "<span class='notice'>You [variant ? "change" : "remove"] the [plantname]'s variant designation.</span>")