Required Field, Autofocus. Error Validation moves click target when clicking on a link

Sorry for the Novel 😜 I have a Log in form with autofocus set on the first input, which is required. I also have a link to get an One Time Pin (OTP) so users can login using a code (alt option). The problem is that whenever you click the OTP link, the in-line validation error fires (as the input loses focus) which displaces the OTP link, down the page, by the height of the error text; thus moving the click target. The link never activates because it only fires on mouse-up. So although the user has already clicked the link (as far as they are concerned) they remain on the login page and have to click it a second Tom to get to the OTP page. I would have thought that this is something which would happen on any form with autofocus on a required input and where links are present. Has anyone had to deal with this before and suggestion on how, aside from setting a non visible container for the error text.