diff --git a/doc/release-notes/11921-dataset-version-summaries-metadatacount-fix.md b/doc/release-notes/11921-dataset-version-summaries-metadatacount-fix.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..df4e0e7c7aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/release-notes/11921-dataset-version-summaries-metadatacount-fix.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+### Dataset version summaries API changedFileMetaData count fix
+
+The endpoint ``{id}/versions/compareSummary`` was previously returning an incorrect count for
+the ``changedFileMetaData`` field.
+The logic for calculating this count has been fixed to accurately reflect the total number of file metadata changes
+across all files in the dataset version.
+
+### Related issues
+
+- https://github.com/IQSS/dataverse/issues/11921
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetVersionDifference.java b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetVersionDifference.java
index 81d4fdf81f2..e9f7d8c92d0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetVersionDifference.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetVersionDifference.java
@@ -1760,12 +1760,7 @@ private JsonObjectBuilder getFileSummaryAsJson(){
             job.add("replaced", 0);
         }
         
-        if (!changedFileMetadata.isEmpty()) {
-            job.add("changedFileMetaData", changedFileMetadata.size());
-           
-        } else{
-            job.add("changedFileMetaData", 0);
-        }
+        job.add("changedFileMetaData", getTotalFileMetadataChangesCount());
         
         if (!changedVariableMetadata.isEmpty()) {
             job.add("changedVariableMetadata", changedVariableMetadata.size());
@@ -1907,4 +1902,26 @@ private JsonObjectBuilder filesDiffJson(FileMetadata fileMetadata) {
         }
         return job;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Calculates the total number of individual file metadata field changes
+     * across all files tracked in the {@code changedFileMetadataDiff} map.
+     *
+     * @return The total count of all file metadata field changes.
+     */
+    private int getTotalFileMetadataChangesCount() {
+        int totalChanges = 0;
+
+        if (this.changedFileMetadataDiff == null) {
+            return 0;
+        }
+
+        for (Map<String, List<String>> fileSpecificDiffs : this.changedFileMetadataDiff.values()) {
+            if (fileSpecificDiffs != null) {
+                totalChanges += fileSpecificDiffs.size();
+            }
+        }
+
+        return totalChanges;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetVersionDifferenceTest.java b/src/test/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetVersionDifferenceTest.java
index ed4c0e565b5..601d0c2d748 100644
--- a/src/test/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetVersionDifferenceTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/DatasetVersionDifferenceTest.java
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ public void testGetSummaryAsJson(){
         JsonPath dataFile = JsonPath.from(JsonUtil.prettyPrint(obj));
                 
         assertTrue("true".equalsIgnoreCase(dataFile.getString("termsAccessChanged")));
-        assertEquals(2,(Long.parseLong(dataFile.getString("files.changedFileMetaData"))));
+        assertEquals(1,(Long.parseLong(dataFile.getString("files.changedFileMetaData"))));
         assertEquals(0,(Long.parseLong(dataFile.getString("testMetadataBlock.deleted"))));
         assertEquals(1, (int) (Long.parseLong(dataFile.getString("testMetadataBlock.added"))));
         assertEquals(1,(Long.parseLong(dataFile.getString("files.added"))));
diff --git a/src/test/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/api/DatasetsIT.java b/src/test/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/api/DatasetsIT.java
index 3a34c3607cd..11f627530ab 100644
--- a/src/test/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/api/DatasetsIT.java
+++ b/src/test/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/api/DatasetsIT.java
@@ -6612,12 +6612,21 @@ public void testSummaryDatasetVersionsDifferencesAPI() throws InterruptedExcepti
                         .add("Data")
                 );
         JsonObject jsonObj = json.build();
+
         String pathToFile = "src/main/webapp/resources/images/dataverse-icon-1200.png";
         Response uploadResponse = UtilIT.uploadFileViaNative(String.valueOf(datasetId), pathToFile, jsonObj, apiToken);
         uploadResponse.prettyPrint();
         uploadResponse.then().assertThat()
                 .statusCode(OK.getStatusCode());
-        Integer modifyFileId = UtilIT.getDataFileIdFromResponse(uploadResponse);
+        Integer firstFileToModify = UtilIT.getDataFileIdFromResponse(uploadResponse);
+
+        pathToFile = "src/test/resources/images/coffeeshop.png";
+        uploadResponse = UtilIT.uploadFileViaNative(String.valueOf(datasetId), pathToFile, jsonObj, apiToken);
+        uploadResponse.prettyPrint();
+        uploadResponse.then().assertThat()
+                .statusCode(OK.getStatusCode());
+        Integer secondFileToModify = UtilIT.getDataFileIdFromResponse(uploadResponse);
+
         pathToFile = "src/main/webapp/resources/images/dataverseproject_logo.jpg";
         uploadResponse = UtilIT.uploadFileViaNative(String.valueOf(datasetId), pathToFile, jsonObj, apiToken);
         uploadResponse.then().assertThat()
@@ -6670,9 +6679,18 @@ public void testSummaryDatasetVersionsDifferencesAPI() throws InterruptedExcepti
         replaceResponse.then().assertThat()
                 .statusCode(OK.getStatusCode());
 
-        // Test modify by restricting the file
-        Response restrictResponse = UtilIT.restrictFile(modifyFileId.toString(), true, apiToken);
-        restrictResponse.prettyPrint();
+        // Test modify first file by adding a new category
+        Response setFileCategoriesResponse = UtilIT.setFileCategories(firstFileToModify.toString(), apiToken, List.of("Category"));
+        setFileCategoriesResponse.then().assertThat()
+                .statusCode(OK.getStatusCode());
+
+        // Test modify first file by restricting it
+        Response restrictResponse = UtilIT.restrictFile(firstFileToModify.toString(), true, apiToken);
+        restrictResponse.then().assertThat()
+                .statusCode(OK.getStatusCode());
+
+        // Test modify second file by restricting it
+        restrictResponse = UtilIT.restrictFile(secondFileToModify.toString(), true, apiToken);
         restrictResponse.then().assertThat()
                 .statusCode(OK.getStatusCode());
 
@@ -6682,7 +6700,6 @@ public void testSummaryDatasetVersionsDifferencesAPI() throws InterruptedExcepti
         updateTerms.then().assertThat()
                 .statusCode(OK.getStatusCode());
 
-
         Response compareResponse = UtilIT.summaryDatasetVersionDifferences(datasetPersistentId, apiToken);
         compareResponse.prettyPrint();
 
@@ -6701,7 +6718,8 @@ public void testSummaryDatasetVersionsDifferencesAPI() throws InterruptedExcepti
                 .body("data[0].summary.'Life Sciences Metadata'.added", equalTo(2))
                 .body("data[0].summary.'Life Sciences Metadata'.deleted", equalTo(0))
                 .body("data[0].summary.files.added", equalTo(1))
-                .body("data[0].summary.files.changedFileMetaData", equalTo(2))
+                // Expected total file metadata field changes: 3 (File 1 has 2 modifications + File 2 has 1 modification)
+                .body("data[0].summary.files.changedFileMetaData", equalTo(3))
                 .statusCode(OK.getStatusCode());
 
         //user with no privileges will only see the published version