diff --git a/Generators/include/Generators/PrimaryGenerator.h b/Generators/include/Generators/PrimaryGenerator.h
index 097bfabf4ef57..cd4d842761418 100644
--- a/Generators/include/Generators/PrimaryGenerator.h
+++ b/Generators/include/Generators/PrimaryGenerator.h
@@ -80,6 +80,9 @@ class PrimaryGenerator : public FairPrimaryGenerator
   /** Public embedding methods **/
   Bool_t embedInto(TString fname);
 
+  /// sets the embedding index
+  void setEmbedIndex(int idx) { mEmbedIndex = idx; }
+
   void setExternalVertexForNextEvent(double x, double y, double z);
 
   // sets the vertex mode; if mode is kCCDB, a valid MeanVertexObject pointer must be given at the same time
diff --git a/Generators/src/PrimaryGenerator.cxx b/Generators/src/PrimaryGenerator.cxx
index ee7c6a16330f9..e7b70108a5d4b 100644
--- a/Generators/src/PrimaryGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Generators/src/PrimaryGenerator.cxx
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ Bool_t PrimaryGenerator::GenerateEvent(FairGenericStack* pStack)
   /** generate event **/
 
   /** normal generation if no embedding **/
-  if (!mEmbedTree) {
+  if (!mEmbedTree || mEmbedIndex < 0) {
     fixInteractionVertex(); // <-- always fixes vertex outside of FairROOT
     auto ret = FairPrimaryGenerator::GenerateEvent(pStack);
     if (ret) {
@@ -91,17 +91,18 @@ Bool_t PrimaryGenerator::GenerateEvent(FairGenericStack* pStack)
   }
 
   /** this is for embedding **/
-
-  /** setup interaction vertex **/
-  mEmbedTree->GetEntry(mEmbedIndex);
-  setInteractionVertex(mEmbedEvent);
-
-  /** notify event generators **/
-  auto genList = GetListOfGenerators();
-  for (int igen = 0; igen < genList->GetEntries(); ++igen) {
-    auto o2gen = dynamic_cast<Generator*>(genList->At(igen));
-    if (o2gen) {
-      o2gen->notifyEmbedding(mEmbedEvent);
+  if (mEmbedIndex >= 0) {
+    /** setup interaction vertex **/
+    mEmbedTree->GetEntry(mEmbedIndex);
+    setInteractionVertex(mEmbedEvent);
+
+    /** notify event generators **/
+    auto genList = GetListOfGenerators();
+    for (int igen = 0; igen < genList->GetEntries(); ++igen) {
+      auto o2gen = dynamic_cast<Generator*>(genList->At(igen));
+      if (o2gen) {
+        o2gen->notifyEmbedding(mEmbedEvent);
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/run/O2PrimaryServerDevice.h b/run/O2PrimaryServerDevice.h
index ece3747b2c94a..4eecf79cffdb6 100644
--- a/run/O2PrimaryServerDevice.h
+++ b/run/O2PrimaryServerDevice.h
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
 #include <chrono>
 #include <CCDB/BasicCCDBManager.h>
 #include <TRandom3.h>
+#include <regex>
 
 namespace o2
 {
@@ -135,6 +136,17 @@ class O2PrimaryServerDevice final : public fair::mq::Device
 
       auto embedinto_filename = conf.getEmbedIntoFileName();
       if (!embedinto_filename.empty()) {
+        // determine the sim prefix from the embedding filename
+        // the filename should be an MCHeader file ... so it should match SOME_PATH/prefix_MCHeader.root
+        std::regex re(R"((.*/)?([^/]+)_MCHeader\.root$)");
+        std::smatch match;
+
+        if (std::regex_search(embedinto_filename, match, re)) {
+          std::cout << "Extracted embedding prefix : " << match[2] << '\n';
+          mEmbeddIntoPrefix = match[2];
+        } else {
+          LOG(fatal) << "Embedding asked but no suitable embedding prefix extractable from " << embedinto_filename;
+        }
         mPrimGen->embedInto(embedinto_filename);
       }
 
@@ -197,6 +209,19 @@ class O2PrimaryServerDevice final : public fair::mq::Device
             auto& vertex = vertices.at(collisionindex);
             LOG(info) << "Setting vertex " << vertex << " for event " << mEventCounter << " for prefix " << mSimConfig.getOutPrefix() << " from CollContext";
             mPrimGen->setExternalVertexForNextEvent(vertex.X(), vertex.Y(), vertex.Z());
+
+            // set correct embedding index for PrimaryGenerator ... based on collision context for embedding
+            auto& collisionParts = mCollissionContext->getEventParts()[collisionindex];
+            int background_index = -1; // -1 means no embedding taking place for this signal
+
+            // find the part that corresponds to the event embeded into
+            for (auto& part : collisionParts) {
+              if (mCollissionContext->getSimPrefixes()[part.sourceID] == mEmbeddIntoPrefix) {
+                background_index = part.entryID;
+                LOG(info) << "Setting embedding index to " << background_index;
+              }
+            }
+            mPrimGen->setEmbedIndex(background_index);
           }
         }
         mPrimGen->GenerateEvent(mStack);
@@ -696,6 +721,7 @@ class O2PrimaryServerDevice final : public fair::mq::Device
   // some information specific to use case when we have a collision context
   o2::steer::DigitizationContext* mCollissionContext = nullptr; //!
   std::unordered_map<int, int> mEventID_to_CollID;              //!
+  std::string mEmbeddIntoPrefix;                                //! sim prefix of background events
 
   TRandom3 mSeedGenerator; //! specific random generator for seed generation for work chunks
 };