diff --git a/assets/css/autocomplete_deluxe.gin.css b/assets/css/autocomplete_deluxe.gin.css
--- a/assets/css/autocomplete_deluxe.gin.css
+++ b/assets/css/autocomplete_deluxe.gin.css
@@ -41,3 +41,18 @@
 .autocomplete-deluxe-item .autocomplete-deluxe-item-delete:hover {
   background: var(--gin-color-button-text);
 }
+
+/* Faux placeholder: show no_empty_message when no items selected. */
+div.autocomplete-deluxe-container.autocomplete-deluxe-multiple:not(:has(.autocomplete-deluxe-item))::before {
+  content: attr(data-placeholder);
+  display: block;
+  color: var(--gin-color-text-disabled, #999);
+  pointer-events: none;
+  font-size: 0.875rem;
+  line-height: 1.3;
+  white-space: normal;
+  word-wrap: break-word;
+  padding: 0.68rem 2.5rem 0.68rem 0.93rem;
+  min-height: 3rem;
+  box-sizing: border-box;
+}
diff --git a/src/Element/AutocompleteDeluxeElement.php b/src/Element/AutocompleteDeluxeElement.php
--- a/src/Element/AutocompleteDeluxeElement.php
+++ b/src/Element/AutocompleteDeluxeElement.php
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
     ],
     ];
     $info['#process'][] = [$class, 'processElement'];
+    $info['#theme_wrappers'] = ['form_element'];
 
     return $info;
   }
@@ -77,19 +78,12 @@
 
     $element['#after_build'][] = [get_called_class(), 'afterBuild'];
 
-    // Add label_display and label variables to template.
-    $element['label'] = ['#theme' => 'form_element_label'];
-    $element['label'] += array_intersect_key(
-      $element,
-      array_flip(
-        [
-          '#id',
-          '#required',
-          '#title',
-          '#title_display',
-        ]
-      )
-    );
+    // Clear #description so the form_element wrapper does not render it
+    // (which would trigger Gin's help-icon toggle).
+    $element['#description'] = '';
+    $element['#description_display'] = 'after';
+
+    $no_empty_message = $element['#no_empty_message'] ?? '';
 
     $element['textfield'] = [
       '#disabled' => $element_disabled,
@@ -100,12 +94,11 @@
         'aria-label' => $element['#title'] ?? '',
       ],
       '#default_value' => '',
-      '#description' => $element['#description'] ?? '',
     ];
 
     // Add autocomplete deluxe container and class only if element is enabled.
     if (!$element_disabled) {
-      $element['textfield']['#prefix'] = '<div class="autocomplete-deluxe-container">';
+      $element['textfield']['#prefix'] = \Drupal\Core\Render\Markup::create('<div class="autocomplete-deluxe-container"' . (!empty($no_empty_message) ? ' data-placeholder="' . str_replace('"', '&quot;', $no_empty_message) . '"' : '') . '>');
       $element['textfield']['#suffix'] = '</div>';
       $element['textfield']['#attributes']['class'][] = 'autocomplete-deluxe-form';
     }
@@ -144,7 +137,6 @@
         '#default_value' => $default_value,
         '#prefix' => '<div class="autocomplete-deluxe-value-container">',
         '#suffix' => '</div>',
-        '#description' => $element['#description'] ?? '',
       ];
       $element['textfield']['#attributes']['style'] = ['display: none'];