diff --git a/src/Extensions/ElementalAreasExtension.php b/src/Extensions/ElementalAreasExtension.php
index 67c8d081..565e2618 100644
--- a/src/Extensions/ElementalAreasExtension.php
+++ b/src/Extensions/ElementalAreasExtension.php
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 use SilverStripe\Forms\LiteralField;
 use SilverStripe\ORM\DataExtension;
 use SilverStripe\ORM\DataObject;
+use SilverStripe\ORM\RelatedData\StandardRelatedDataService;
 use SilverStripe\Versioned\Versioned;
 use SilverStripe\View\ViewableData;
 
@@ -329,15 +330,9 @@ public function requireDefaultRecords()
                 }
             }
 
-            $needsPublishing = ViewableData::has_extension($elementalObject, Versioned::class)
-                && $elementalObject->isPublished();
-
             /** @var ElementalAreasExtension $elementalObject */
             $elementalObject->ensureElementalAreasExist($elementalAreas);
             $elementalObject->write();
-            if ($needsPublishing) {
-                $elementalObject->publishRecursive();
-            }
         }
 
         $this->owner->extend('onAfterRequireDefaultElementalRecords');
diff --git a/tests/Extensions/ElementalAreasExtensionTest.php b/tests/Extensions/ElementalAreasExtensionTest.php
index 8b7983c2..486875a9 100644
--- a/tests/Extensions/ElementalAreasExtensionTest.php
+++ b/tests/Extensions/ElementalAreasExtensionTest.php
@@ -2,15 +2,18 @@
 
 namespace DNADesign\Elemental\Tests\Extensions;
 
-use DNADesign\Elemental\Extensions\ElementalAreasExtension;
+use SilverStripe\Dev\SapphireTest;
+use SilverStripe\CMS\Model\SiteTree;
+use SilverStripe\Core\Config\Config;
+use SilverStripe\Forms\LiteralField;
+use DNADesign\Elemental\Models\ElementalArea;
 use DNADesign\Elemental\Models\ElementContent;
 use DNADesign\Elemental\Tests\Src\TestElement;
-use DNADesign\Elemental\Tests\Src\TestUnusedElement;
-use SilverStripe\Core\Config\Config;
-use SilverStripe\CMS\Model\SiteTree;
-use SilverStripe\Dev\SapphireTest;
 use SilverStripe\Forms\HTMLEditor\HTMLEditorField;
-use SilverStripe\Forms\LiteralField;
+use DNADesign\Elemental\Tests\Src\TestUnusedElement;
+use DNADesign\Elemental\Tests\Src\TestVersionedDataObject;
+use DNADesign\Elemental\Extensions\ElementalAreasExtension;
+use SilverStripe\ORM\DB;
 
 class ElementalAreasExtensionTest extends SapphireTest
 {
@@ -18,11 +21,15 @@ class ElementalAreasExtensionTest extends SapphireTest
         SiteTree::class => [
             ElementalAreasExtension::class,
         ],
+        TestVersionedDataObject::class => [
+            ElementalAreasExtension::class,
+        ],
     ];
 
     protected static $extra_dataobjects = [
         TestElement::class,
         TestUnusedElement::class,
+        TestVersionedDataObject::class,
     ];
 
     protected function setUp(): void
@@ -110,4 +117,30 @@ public function provideContentFieldPreservationSettings()
             [true, true, HTMLEditorField::class],
         ];
     }
+
+    public function testRequireDefaultRecords()
+    {
+        /** @var TestVersionedDataObject|ElementalAreasExtension|Versioned $object */
+        $object = new TestVersionedDataObject();
+        $object->Title = 'abc';
+        $id = $object->write();
+        $object->publishSingle();
+        $object->Title = 'def';
+        $object->write();
+        $this->assertTrue($object->isModifiedOnDraft());
+        $tableName = $object->getSchema()->tableName(TestVersionedDataObject::class);
+        $tableNameLive = $tableName . '_Live';
+        // Explicitly set ElementalAreaID to null to simulate a fresh object that
+        // has the ElementalAreasExtension applied to it
+        // There's an onBeforeWrite() hook that will set ElementalAreaID so update DB directly
+        DB::query("UPDATE $tableName SET ElementalAreaID = NULL WHERE ID = $id");
+        DB::query("UPDATE $tableNameLive SET ElementalAreaID = NULL WHERE ID = $id");
+        $object->requireDefaultRecords();
+        // refetch object to ensure we're not using a cached version
+        $object = TestVersionedDataObject::get()->byID($id);
+        // assert that an ElementalID was set on the object
+        $this->assertSame(ElementalArea::get()->max('ID'), $object->ElementalAreaID);
+        // assert that we didn't accidentally publish the modified object
+        $this->assertTrue($object->isModifiedOnDraft());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Src/TestVersionedDataObject.php b/tests/Src/TestVersionedDataObject.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..69cbd751
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Src/TestVersionedDataObject.php
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace DNADesign\Elemental\Tests\Src;
+
+use DNADesign\Elemental\Models\ElementalArea;
+use SilverStripe\ORM\DataObject;
+use SilverStripe\Dev\TestOnly;
+use SilverStripe\Versioned\Versioned;
+
+class TestVersionedDataObject extends DataObject implements TestOnly
+{
+    private static $table_name = 'TestVersionedDataObject';
+
+    private static $extensions = [
+        Versioned::class,
+    ];
+
+    private static $db = [
+        'Title' => 'Varchar(255)',
+    ];
+
+    private static $has_one = [
+        'ElementalArea' => ElementalArea::class,
+    ];
+
+    private static $owns = [
+        'ElementalArea',
+    ];
+}