diff --git a/lib/Bric/Changes.pod b/lib/Bric/Changes.pod
index 90ec78fae..b05b946fd 100644
--- a/lib/Bric/Changes.pod
+++ b/lib/Bric/Changes.pod
@@ -103,6 +103,16 @@ contributor type proile, the cursor displays as a "move" cursor, to indicate
 that one can drag the field names in order to change their order. This
 corresponds to the interface for reordering fields in documents. [David]
 
+=item *
+
+When creating new stories or media via the SOAP interface, Bricolage no longer
+forces the publish status to be set to false, but sets it to true if the the
+publish date is set or the publish status is true in the XML. In such cases,
+it will also set the published version number to version 1. This is to make it
+easier for one to migrate documents from one Bricolage instance to another
+without having to edit the XML to set the publish status to a true value.
+[David]
+
 =back
 
 =head2 Bug Fixes
@@ -239,6 +249,12 @@ When relating a story or media document, clicking a column header in the
 search results in the related search popup no longer throws an error. Thanks
 to Phillip for the report (Bug #149). [David]
 
+=item *
+
+The SOAP interface now sets the published version to the new version of a
+story or media document that is being updated by XML that says the document is
+published and where the published version was not previously set. [David]
+
 =back
 
 =head1 Version 1.11.3 (2010-01-28)
diff --git a/lib/Bric/SOAP/Media.pm b/lib/Bric/SOAP/Media.pm
index d998c67b8..f71cc9e45 100644
--- a/lib/Bric/SOAP/Media.pm
+++ b/lib/Bric/SOAP/Media.pm
@@ -809,16 +809,13 @@ sub load_asset {
         $media->_set(\@simple_fields, [ @{$mdata}{@simple_fields} ]);
 
         # almost totally ignoring whatever publish_status is set to
-        if ($update) {
-            if ($media->get_publish_date or $media->get_first_publish_date) {
-                # some publish date is set, so it must've been published
-                $media->set_publish_status(1);
-            } else {
-                $media->set_publish_status($mdata->{publish_status});
-            }
-        } else {
-            # creating, so can't have published it yet
-            $media->set_publish_status(0);
+        $media->set_publish_status(
+            $media->get_publish_date ? 1 : $mdata->{publish_status} || 0
+        );
+
+        # Set published version if it's not set.
+        if ($media->get_publish_status && !$media->get_published_version) {
+            $media->set_published_version($media->get_current_version + 1);
         }
 
         # remove all contributors if updating
diff --git a/lib/Bric/SOAP/Story.pm b/lib/Bric/SOAP/Story.pm
index c346b7849..b666d02a4 100644
--- a/lib/Bric/SOAP/Story.pm
+++ b/lib/Bric/SOAP/Story.pm
@@ -928,16 +928,13 @@ sub load_asset {
         }
 
         # almost totally ignoring whatever publish_status is set to
-        if ($update) {
-            if ($story->get_publish_date or $story->get_first_publish_date) {
-                # some publish date is set, so it must've been published
-                $story->set_publish_status(1);
-            } else {
-                $story->set_publish_status($sdata->{publish_status});
-            }
-        } else {
-            # creating, so can't have published it yet
-            $story->set_publish_status(0);
+        $story->set_publish_status(
+            $story->get_publish_date ? 1 : $sdata->{publish_status} || 0
+        );
+
+        # Set published version if it's not set.
+        if ($story->get_publish_status && !$story->get_published_version) {
+            $story->set_published_version($story->get_current_version + 1);
         }
 
         # remove all categories if updating