diff --git a/.changeset/tricky-geckos-protect.md b/.changeset/tricky-geckos-protect.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c4e1abc58c1cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/tricky-geckos-protect.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend': patch
+---
+
+Fixed a bug where the `catalog:register` action would not return any entity when running towards recent versions of the catalog.
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/register.test.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/register.test.ts
index 68e2450ca0607..eb704c729ea0c 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/register.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/register.test.ts
@@ -67,25 +67,98 @@ describe('catalog:register', () => {
   });
 
   it('should register location in catalog', async () => {
-    addLocation.mockResolvedValue({
-      entities: [
-        {
-          metadata: {
-            namespace: 'default',
-            name: 'test',
-          },
-          kind: 'Component',
-        } as Entity,
-      ],
+    addLocation
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        entities: [],
+      })
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        entities: [
+          {
+            metadata: {
+              namespace: 'default',
+              name: 'test',
+            },
+            kind: 'Component',
+          } as Entity,
+        ],
+      });
+    await action.handler({
+      ...mockContext,
+      input: {
+        catalogInfoUrl: 'http://foo/var',
+      },
     });
+
+    expect(addLocation).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
+      1,
+      {
+        type: 'url',
+        target: 'http://foo/var',
+      },
+      {},
+    );
+    expect(addLocation).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
+      2,
+      {
+        dryRun: true,
+        type: 'url',
+        target: 'http://foo/var',
+      },
+      {},
+    );
+
+    expect(mockContext.output).toBeCalledWith(
+      'entityRef',
+      'component:default/test',
+    );
+    expect(mockContext.output).toBeCalledWith(
+      'catalogInfoUrl',
+      'http://foo/var',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should register location in catalog and return the entity and not the generated location', async () => {
+    addLocation
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        entities: [],
+      })
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        entities: [
+          {
+            metadata: {
+              namespace: 'default',
+              name: 'generated-1238',
+            },
+            kind: 'Location',
+          } as Entity,
+          {
+            metadata: {
+              namespace: 'default',
+              name: 'test',
+            },
+            kind: 'Component',
+          } as Entity,
+        ],
+      });
     await action.handler({
       ...mockContext,
       input: {
         catalogInfoUrl: 'http://foo/var',
       },
     });
-    expect(addLocation).toBeCalledWith(
+
+    expect(addLocation).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
+      1,
+      {
+        type: 'url',
+        target: 'http://foo/var',
+      },
+      {},
+    );
+    expect(addLocation).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
+      2,
       {
+        dryRun: true,
         type: 'url',
         target: 'http://foo/var',
       },
@@ -94,7 +167,7 @@ describe('catalog:register', () => {
 
     expect(mockContext.output).toBeCalledWith(
       'entityRef',
-      'Component:default/test',
+      'component:default/test',
     );
     expect(mockContext.output).toBeCalledWith(
       'catalogInfoUrl',
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/register.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/register.ts
index 70170b8b90322..9d4961bfd90f9 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/register.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/register.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 import { InputError } from '@backstage/errors';
 import { ScmIntegrations } from '@backstage/integration';
 import { CatalogApi } from '@backstage/catalog-client';
-import { getEntityName } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
+import { stringifyEntityRef } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import { createTemplateAction } from '../../createTemplateAction';
 
 export function createCatalogRegisterAction(options: {
@@ -93,18 +93,30 @@ export function createCatalogRegisterAction(options: {
 
       ctx.logger.info(`Registering ${catalogInfoUrl} in the catalog`);
 
+      await catalogClient.addLocation(
+        {
+          type: 'url',
+          target: catalogInfoUrl,
+        },
+        ctx.token ? { token: ctx.token } : {},
+      );
       const result = await catalogClient.addLocation(
         {
+          dryRun: true,
           type: 'url',
           target: catalogInfoUrl,
         },
         ctx.token ? { token: ctx.token } : {},
       );
-      if (result.entities.length >= 1) {
-        const { kind, name, namespace } = getEntityName(result.entities[0]);
-        ctx.output('entityRef', `${kind}:${namespace}/${name}`);
-        ctx.output('catalogInfoUrl', catalogInfoUrl);
+
+      if (result.entities.length > 0) {
+        const { entities } = result;
+        const entity =
+          entities.find(e => !e.metadata.name.startsWith('generated-')) ??
+          entities[0];
+        ctx.output('entityRef', stringifyEntityRef(entity));
       }
+      ctx.output('catalogInfoUrl', catalogInfoUrl);
     },
   });
 }