diff -u b/src/Plugin/Field/FieldWidget/OptionsShsWidget.php b/src/Plugin/Field/FieldWidget/OptionsShsWidget.php
--- b/src/Plugin/Field/FieldWidget/OptionsShsWidget.php
+++ b/src/Plugin/Field/FieldWidget/OptionsShsWidget.php
@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@
     if (isset($user_input[$field_name])) {
       $default_value = $user_input[$field_name];
     }
+
     $target_bundles = $this->getFieldSetting('handler_settings')['target_bundles'];
     $settings_additional = [
       'required' => $this->required,
@@ -286,6 +287,19 @@
     if (!is_array($value)) {
       $value = [$value];
     }
+
+    // If the terms lineage is stored the parents should be removed.
+    if (!empty($value) && !empty($element['#shs']['settings']['save_lineage'])) {
+      /** @var \Drupal\taxonomy\TermStorageInterface $term_storage */
+      $term_storage = \Drupal::entityTypeManager()->getStorage('taxonomy_term');
+      foreach ($value as $key => $value) {
+        if ($term_storage->loadChildren($value)) {
+          unset($value[$key]);
+        }
+      }
+      $value = array_values($value);
+    }
+
     if ($element['#shs']['settings']['anyValue'] === reset($value)) {
       if (!$element['#required']) {
         return;