diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/contrib/coreActions.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/contrib/coreActions.ts
index 04740c1163d..46fd3c2e491 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/contrib/coreActions.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/notebook/browser/contrib/coreActions.ts
@@ -1385,7 +1385,8 @@ abstract class ChangeNotebookCellMetadataAction extends NotebookCellAction {
 
 		const metadataDelta = this.getMetadataDelta();
 		const edits: ICellEditOperation[] = [];
-		for (const cell of context.selectedCells || []) {
+		const targetCells = (context.cell ? [context.cell] : context.selectedCells) ?? [];
+		for (const cell of targetCells) {
 			const index = textModel.cells.indexOf(cell.model);
 			if (index >= 0) {
 				edits.push({ editType: CellEditType.Metadata, index, metadata: { ...context.cell.metadata, ...metadataDelta } });