diff --git a/apollo-portal/src/main/java/com/ctrip/framework/apollo/openapi/v1/controller/ItemController.java b/apollo-portal/src/main/java/com/ctrip/framework/apollo/openapi/v1/controller/ItemController.java
index fdc9f0e18e8..f8c0f90a67b 100644
--- a/apollo-portal/src/main/java/com/ctrip/framework/apollo/openapi/v1/controller/ItemController.java
+++ b/apollo-portal/src/main/java/com/ctrip/framework/apollo/openapi/v1/controller/ItemController.java
@@ -123,6 +123,9 @@ public void updateItem(@PathVariable String appId, @PathVariable String env,
     }
 
     if (createIfNotExists) {
+      if (StringUtils.isEmpty(item.getDataChangeCreatedBy())) {
+        throw new BadRequestException("dataChangeCreatedBy is required when createIfNotExists is true");
+      }
       this.itemOpenApiService.createOrUpdateItem(appId, env, clusterName, namespaceName, item);
     } else {
       this.itemOpenApiService.updateItem(appId, env, clusterName, namespaceName, item);