diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/Atomize.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/Atomize.java
index 19b4c9670ca..d9e553c810b 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/Atomize.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/Atomize.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 import org.exist.dom.persistent.DocumentSet;
 import org.exist.xquery.functions.array.ArrayType;
+import org.exist.xquery.functions.map.AbstractMapType;
 import org.exist.xquery.util.ExpressionDumper;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.Item;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.Sequence;
@@ -75,15 +76,25 @@ public static Sequence atomize(Sequence input) throws XPathException {
         if (input.isEmpty())
             {return Sequence.EMPTY_SEQUENCE;}
         input = ArrayType.flatten(input);
-        if (input.hasOne()) {return
-            input.itemAt(0).atomize();
+        if (input.hasOne()) {
+            final Item single = input.itemAt(0);
+            // XQ4: maps are atomizable — expand to their values before atomizing
+            if (single instanceof AbstractMapType mapType && mapType.isXq4Atomizable()) {
+                return mapType.atomizeValues();
+            }
+            return single.atomize();
         }
 
         Item next;
         final ValueSequence result = new ValueSequence();
         for(final SequenceIterator i = input.iterate(); i.hasNext(); ) {
             next = i.nextItem();
-            result.add(next.atomize());
+            // XQ4: maps are atomizable — expand to their values before atomizing
+            if (next instanceof AbstractMapType mapType && mapType.isXq4Atomizable()) {
+                result.addAll(mapType.atomizeValues());
+            } else {
+                result.add(next.atomize());
+            }
         }
         return result;
     }
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/ConcatExpr.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/ConcatExpr.java
index fd19c50e2ef..f8f9b9d3a3e 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/ConcatExpr.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/ConcatExpr.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
  */
 package org.exist.xquery;
 
+import org.exist.xquery.functions.map.AbstractMapType;
 import org.exist.xquery.util.Error;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.*;
 
@@ -65,8 +66,17 @@ public Sequence eval(Sequence contextSequence, Item contextItem)
             final Sequence seq = step.eval(contextSequence, contextItem);
             for (final SequenceIterator i = seq.iterate(); i.hasNext(); ) {
                 final Item item = i.nextItem();
-                if (Type.subTypeOf(item.getType(), Type.FUNCTION))
-                    {throw new XPathException(this, ErrorCodes.FOTY0013, "Got a function item as operand in string concatenation");}
+                if (Type.subTypeOf(item.getType(), Type.FUNCTION)) {
+                    // XQ4: maps are no longer function items for atomization purposes
+                    if (item instanceof AbstractMapType mapType && mapType.isXq4Atomizable()) {
+                        final Sequence atomized = mapType.atomizeValues();
+                        for (final SequenceIterator ai = atomized.iterate(); ai.hasNext(); ) {
+                            concat.append(ai.nextItem().getStringValue());
+                        }
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                    throw new XPathException(this, ErrorCodes.FOTY0013, "Got a function item as operand in string concatenation");
+                }
                 concat.append(item.getStringValue());
             }
 		}
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/map/AbstractMapType.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/map/AbstractMapType.java
index 0ea9d160dbf..b571b60444a 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/map/AbstractMapType.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/map/AbstractMapType.java
@@ -223,6 +223,61 @@ protected static boolean sameKey(@Nullable final Collator collator, final Atomic
         return false;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns {@code true} if this map can be atomized under the current XQuery version.
+     * In XQuery 4.0, maps are no longer function items and can be atomized
+     * (returning the atomized values of their entries).
+     *
+     * @return true if the map is atomizable (XQuery 4.0+)
+     */
+    public boolean isXq4Atomizable() {
+        return context != null && context.getXQueryVersion() >= 40;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Atomize all values in this map, returning them as a flat sequence of atomic values.
+     * This implements the XQuery 4.0 semantics where atomizing a map returns the
+     * concatenation of the atomized values of its entries.
+     *
+     * @return a sequence of atomic values from all map entry values
+     * @throws XPathException if any value cannot be atomized
+     */
+    public Sequence atomizeValues() throws XPathException {
+        if (size() == 0) {
+            return Sequence.EMPTY_SEQUENCE;
+        }
+        final ValueSequence result = new ValueSequence();
+        for (final IEntry<AtomicValue, Sequence> entry : this) {
+            final Sequence value = entry.value();
+            for (final SequenceIterator vi = value.iterate(); vi.hasNext(); ) {
+                result.add(vi.nextItem().atomize());
+            }
+        }
+        return result;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public AtomicValue atomize() throws XPathException {
+        if (isXq4Atomizable()) {
+            if (size() == 0) {
+                // follows the ArrayType pattern for empty containers
+                return null;
+            }
+            final Sequence atomized = atomizeValues();
+            if (atomized.isEmpty()) {
+                return null;
+            }
+            if (atomized.getItemCount() > 1) {
+                throw new XPathException(getExpression(), ErrorCodes.XPTY0004,
+                        "Atomization of a map with multiple values requires a sequence context");
+            }
+            return (AtomicValue) atomized.itemAt(0);
+        }
+        // XQuery 3.1 and earlier: maps are function items and cannot be atomized
+        throw new XPathException(getExpression(), ErrorCodes.FOTY0013,
+                "A function item other than an array cannot be atomized");
+    }
+
     @Override
     public String toString() {
         final StringBuilder buf = new StringBuilder("map {");