diff --git a/packages/field/src/FormatMixin.js b/packages/field/src/FormatMixin.js
index a9d813204..a63fcef44 100644
--- a/packages/field/src/FormatMixin.js
+++ b/packages/field/src/FormatMixin.js
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ export const FormatMixin = dedupeMixin(
         // imperatively, we DO want to format a value (it is the only way to get meaningful
         // input into `.inputElement` with modelValue as input)
 
-        if (this.__isHandlingUserInput && this.errorState) {
+        if (this.__isHandlingUserInput && this.errorState && this.inputElement) {
           return this.inputElement ? this.value : undefined;
         }
         return this.formatter(this.modelValue, this.formatOptions);
@@ -335,8 +335,6 @@ export const FormatMixin = dedupeMixin(
           // is guaranteed to be calculated
           setTimeout(this._reflectBackFormattedValueToUser);
         };
-        this.inputElement.addEventListener(this.formatOn, this._reflectBackFormattedValueDebounced);
-        this.inputElement.addEventListener('input', this._proxyInputEvent);
         this.addEventListener('user-input-changed', this._onUserInputChanged);
         // Connect the value found in <input> to the formatting/parsing/serializing loop as a
         // fallback mechanism. Assume the user uses the value property of the
@@ -347,16 +345,26 @@ export const FormatMixin = dedupeMixin(
           this._syncValueUpwards();
         }
         this._reflectBackFormattedValueToUser();
+
+        if (this.inputElement) {
+          this.inputElement.addEventListener(
+            this.formatOn,
+            this._reflectBackFormattedValueDebounced,
+          );
+          this.inputElement.addEventListener('input', this._proxyInputEvent);
+        }
       }
 
       disconnectedCallback() {
         super.disconnectedCallback();
-        this.inputElement.removeEventListener('input', this._proxyInputEvent);
         this.removeEventListener('user-input-changed', this._onUserInputChanged);
-        this.inputElement.removeEventListener(
-          this.formatOn,
-          this._reflectBackFormattedValueDebounced,
-        );
+        if (this.inputElement) {
+          this.inputElement.removeEventListener('input', this._proxyInputEvent);
+          this.inputElement.removeEventListener(
+            this.formatOn,
+            this._reflectBackFormattedValueDebounced,
+          );
+        }
       }
     },
 );
diff --git a/packages/field/test/FormatMixin.test.js b/packages/field/test/FormatMixin.test.js
index 1c7905364..aa004ca70 100644
--- a/packages/field/test/FormatMixin.test.js
+++ b/packages/field/test/FormatMixin.test.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { expect, fixture, html, aTimeout, defineCE, unsafeStatic } from '@open-wc/testing';
 import sinon from 'sinon';
 
-import { LionLitElement } from '@lion/core/src/LionLitElement.js';
+import { LitElement } from '@lion/core';
 import { Unparseable } from '@lion/validate';
 import { FormatMixin } from '../src/FormatMixin.js';
 
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ describe('FormatMixin', () => {
 
   before(async () => {
     const tagString = defineCE(
-      class extends FormatMixin(LionLitElement) {
+      class extends FormatMixin(LitElement) {
         render() {
           return html`
             <slot name="input"></slot>
@@ -176,6 +176,14 @@ describe('FormatMixin', () => {
     expect(el.inputElement.value).to.equal('foo: test2');
   });
 
+  it('works if there is no underlying inputElement', async () => {
+    const tagNoInputString = defineCE(class extends FormatMixin(LitElement) {});
+    const tagNoInput = unsafeStatic(tagNoInputString);
+    expect(async () => {
+      await fixture(html`<${tagNoInput}></${tagNoInput}>`);
+    }).to.not.throw();
+  });
+
   describe('parsers/formatters/serializers', () => {
     it('should call the parser|formatter|serializer provided by user', async () => {
       const formatterSpy = sinon.spy(value => `foo: ${value}`);