diff --git a/src/scss/components/select/multi-select.ts b/src/scss/components/select/multi-select.ts
index d3096ad..8725bf9 100644
--- a/src/scss/components/select/multi-select.ts
+++ b/src/scss/components/select/multi-select.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 import { LitElement, html } from "lit";
 import { customElement, property, state } from "lit/decorators.js";
 import { map } from "lit/directives/map.js";
+import "./select-option.ts";
 
 @customElement("multi-select")
 export class MultiSelect extends LitElement {
   @property({ type: String })
   label: string = "Select options";
 
-  @property({ type: String })
+  @property({ type: String, attribute: "field-name" })
   name: string = "";
 
   @property({ type: Array })
@@ -27,20 +28,35 @@ export class MultiSelect extends LitElement {
 
   connectedCallback() {
     super.connectedCallback();
-    if (this.options.length === 0) {
-      this._readOptionsFromSlot();
-    } else {
-      this.optionsMap = new Map(this.options.map((opt) => [opt, opt]));
-    }
-    this._hideSlottedOptions();
-    this._createHiddenInputsContainer();
+    Promise.resolve().then(() => {
+      if (this.options.length === 0) {
+        this._readOptionsFromSlot();
+      } else {
+        this.optionsMap = new Map(this.options.map((opt) => [opt, opt]));
+      }
+      this._hideSlottedOptions();
+      this._createHiddenInputsContainer();
+    });
+
+    this.addEventListener("select-option-connected", this._onOptionConnected);
   }
 
   disconnectedCallback() {
     super.disconnectedCallback();
+    this.removeEventListener(
+      "select-option-connected",
+      this._onOptionConnected,
+    );
     this._removeHiddenInputsContainer();
   }
 
+  private _onOptionConnected = () => {
+    if (this.options.length === 0) {
+      this._readOptionsFromSlot();
+      this._hideSlottedOptions();
+    }
+  };
+
   _createHiddenInputsContainer() {
     if (!this.hiddenInputsContainer) {
       this.hiddenInputsContainer = document.createElement("div");
@@ -50,7 +66,7 @@ export class MultiSelect extends LitElement {
   }
 
   _removeHiddenInputsContainer() {
-    if (this.hiddenInputsContainer && this.hiddenInputsContainer.parentNode) {
+    if (this.hiddenInputsContainer?.parentNode) {
       this.hiddenInputsContainer.parentNode.removeChild(
         this.hiddenInputsContainer,
       );
@@ -79,23 +95,22 @@ export class MultiSelect extends LitElement {
   }
 
   _hideSlottedOptions() {
-    const optionElements = this.querySelectorAll("option");
-    optionElements.forEach((opt) => {
-      opt.style.display = "none";
+    this.querySelectorAll<HTMLElement>("select-option").forEach((el) => {
+      el.style.display = "none";
     });
   }
 
   _readOptionsFromSlot() {
-    const optionElements = this.querySelectorAll("option");
+    const optionElements = this.querySelectorAll("select-option");
     this.optionsMap = new Map();
     const preselected: string[] = [];
 
     optionElements.forEach((opt) => {
-      const value = opt.value || opt.textContent || "";
-      const text = opt.textContent || "";
+      const value = opt.getAttribute("value") || opt.textContent?.trim() || "";
+      const text = opt.textContent?.trim() || "";
       if (value) {
         this.optionsMap.set(value, text);
-        if (opt.hasAttribute("selected") || opt.selected) {
+        if (opt.hasAttribute("selected")) {
           preselected.push(value);
         }
       }
diff --git a/src/scss/components/select/select-option.ts b/src/scss/components/select/select-option.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0eeeb16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scss/components/select/select-option.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { LitElement } from "lit";
+import { customElement, property } from "lit/decorators.js";
+
+@customElement("select-option")
+export class SelectOption extends LitElement {
+  @property({ type: String }) value: string = "";
+  @property({ type: Boolean }) selected: boolean = false;
+
+  createRenderRoot() {
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  connectedCallback() {
+    super.connectedCallback();
+    this.dispatchEvent(
+      new CustomEvent("select-option-connected", {
+        bubbles: true,
+        composed: true,
+      }),
+    );
+  }
+}
+
+declare global {
+  interface HTMLElementTagNameMap {
+    "select-option": SelectOption;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/scss/components/select/select.stories.ts b/src/scss/components/select/select.stories.ts
index 39c6d0c..966c9eb 100644
--- a/src/scss/components/select/select.stories.ts
+++ b/src/scss/components/select/select.stories.ts
@@ -6,9 +6,7 @@ import "./multi-select.ts";
 const meta: Meta = {
   title: "Components/Select",
   parameters: {
-    backgrounds: {
-      default: "light",
-    },
+    backgrounds: { default: "light" },
   },
   argTypes: {
     label: { control: "text" },
@@ -58,8 +56,8 @@ export const MultiSelectSlot: Story = {
   name: "Multi Select (HTML Slot)",
   render: () => html`
     <multi-select label="Choose your language(s)">
-      <option>English</option>
-      <option>French</option>
+      <select-option>English</select-option>
+      <select-option>French</select-option>
     </multi-select>
   `,
 };
@@ -68,8 +66,8 @@ export const MultiSelectWithValues: Story = {
   name: "Multi Select (HTML Slot With Custom Values)",
   render: () => html`
     <multi-select label="Choose your language(s)">
-      <option value="en">English</option>
-      <option value="fr">French</option>
+      <select-option value="en">English</select-option>
+      <select-option value="fr">French</select-option>
     </multi-select>
   `,
 };
@@ -85,11 +83,13 @@ export const MultiSelectInForm: Story = {
         alert("Selected values: " + JSON.stringify(selected));
       }}
     >
-      <multi-select name="language" label="Choose your language(s)">
-        <option value="en">English</option>
-        <option value="fr">French</option>
+      <multi-select field-name="language" label="Choose your language(s)">
+        <select-option value="en">English</select-option>
+        <select-option value="fr">French</select-option>
       </multi-select>
-      <button type="submit">Submit Form</button>
+      <button class="iati-button iati-button--submit" type="submit">
+        Submit Form
+      </button>
     </form>
   `,
 };