diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/PublishDatasetCommand.java b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/PublishDatasetCommand.java
index 8cc64f896c3..54e5fc8b1cd 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/PublishDatasetCommand.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/PublishDatasetCommand.java
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ public PublishDatasetResult execute(CommandContext ctxt) throws CommandException
                 lock.setInfo(info);
                 lock.setStartTime(new Date());
                 theDataset.getLocks().add(lock);
+                theDataset = ctxt.em().merge(theDataset);
                 return callFinalizeAsync(ctxt);
             }
             // Synchronous publishing (no workflow involved)