diff --git a/app/code/Magento/Catalog/Model/Product/Attribute/Repository.php b/app/code/Magento/Catalog/Model/Product/Attribute/Repository.php
index 270a2f229678b..c19efac12ae0e 100644
--- a/app/code/Magento/Catalog/Model/Product/Attribute/Repository.php
+++ b/app/code/Magento/Catalog/Model/Product/Attribute/Repository.php
@@ -118,6 +118,9 @@ public function save(\Magento\Catalog\Api\Data\ProductAttributeInterface $attrib
             $attribute->setAttributeId($existingModel->getAttributeId());
             $attribute->setIsUserDefined($existingModel->getIsUserDefined());
             $attribute->setFrontendInput($existingModel->getFrontendInput());
+            if ($attribute->getIsUserDefined()) {
+                $this->processAttributeData($attribute);
+            }
 
             if (is_array($attribute->getFrontendLabels())) {
                 $defaultFrontendLabel = $attribute->getDefaultFrontendLabel();
@@ -156,15 +159,7 @@ public function save(\Magento\Catalog\Api\Data\ProductAttributeInterface $attrib
             $this->validateCode($attribute->getAttributeCode());
             $this->validateFrontendInput($attribute->getFrontendInput());
 
-            $attribute->setBackendType(
-                $attribute->getBackendTypeByInput($attribute->getFrontendInput())
-            );
-            $attribute->setSourceModel(
-                $this->productHelper->getAttributeSourceModelByInputType($attribute->getFrontendInput())
-            );
-            $attribute->setBackendModel(
-                $this->productHelper->getAttributeBackendModelByInputType($attribute->getFrontendInput())
-            );
+            $this->processAttributeData($attribute);
             $attribute->setEntityTypeId(
                 $this->eavConfig
                     ->getEntityType(\Magento\Catalog\Api\Data\ProductAttributeInterface::ENTITY_TYPE_CODE)
@@ -275,4 +270,23 @@ protected function validateFrontendInput($frontendInput)
             throw InputException::invalidFieldValue('frontend_input', $frontendInput);
         }
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Process attribute data based on attribute frontend input type.
+     *
+     * @param \Magento\Catalog\Api\Data\ProductAttributeInterface $attribute
+     * @return void
+     */
+    private function processAttributeData(\Magento\Catalog\Api\Data\ProductAttributeInterface $attribute)
+    {
+        $attribute->setBackendType(
+            $attribute->getBackendTypeByInput($attribute->getFrontendInput())
+        );
+        $attribute->setSourceModel(
+            $this->productHelper->getAttributeSourceModelByInputType($attribute->getFrontendInput())
+        );
+        $attribute->setBackendModel(
+            $this->productHelper->getAttributeBackendModelByInputType($attribute->getFrontendInput())
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/dev/tests/api-functional/testsuite/Magento/Catalog/Api/ProductAttributeRepositoryTest.php b/dev/tests/api-functional/testsuite/Magento/Catalog/Api/ProductAttributeRepositoryTest.php
index e48c5ad018db4..00b20ae8eecdb 100644
--- a/dev/tests/api-functional/testsuite/Magento/Catalog/Api/ProductAttributeRepositoryTest.php
+++ b/dev/tests/api-functional/testsuite/Magento/Catalog/Api/ProductAttributeRepositoryTest.php
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 namespace Magento\Catalog\Api;
 
 use Magento\Framework\Webapi\Exception as HTTPExceptionCodes;
-use Magento\TestFramework\Helper\Bootstrap;
 
 class ProductAttributeRepositoryTest extends \Magento\TestFramework\TestCase\WebapiAbstract
 {
@@ -194,6 +193,36 @@ public function testUpdate()
         $this->assertEquals("Default Blue Updated", $result['options'][1]['label']);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Test source model and backend type can not be changed to custom, as they depends on attribute frontend type.
+     *
+     * @magentoApiDataFixture Magento/Catalog/Model/Product/Attribute/_files/create_attribute_service.php
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testUpdateAttributeSourceAndType()
+    {
+        $attributeCode = uniqid('label_attr_code');
+        $attribute = $this->createAttribute($attributeCode);
+        $attributeData = [
+            'attribute' => [
+                'attribute_id' => $attribute['attribute_id'],
+                'attribute_code' => $attributeCode,
+                'entity_type_id' => 4,
+                'is_required' => false,
+                'frontend_input' => 'select',
+                'source_model' => "Some/Custom/Source/Model",
+                'backend_type' => 'varchar',
+                'frontend_labels' => [
+                    ['store_id' => 1, 'label' => 'front_lbl_new'],
+                ],
+            ],
+        ];
+
+        $result = $this->updateAttribute($attributeCode, $attributeData);
+        $this->assertEquals(\Magento\Eav\Model\Entity\Attribute\Source\Table::class, $result['source_model']);
+        $this->assertEquals('int', $result['backend_type']);
+    }
+
     /**
      * @magentoApiDataFixture Magento/Catalog/Model/Product/Attribute/_files/create_attribute_service.php
      */