diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index f02220a8d..f9f640739 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
         <sonar.organization>gridsuite</sonar.organization>
         <sonar.projectKey>org.gridsuite:network-modification-server</sonar.projectKey>
         <!-- TODO network-modification.version remove when included in gridsuite-dependencies -->
-        <network-modification.version>0.83.0</network-modification.version>
+        <network-modification.version>0.84.0-SNAPSHOT</network-modification.version>
     </properties>
 
     <build>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gridsuite/modification/server/entities/ModificationEntity.java b/src/main/java/org/gridsuite/modification/server/entities/ModificationEntity.java
index d0ef5ac5a..642f770d1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gridsuite/modification/server/entities/ModificationEntity.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gridsuite/modification/server/entities/ModificationEntity.java
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@ protected ModificationEntity(ModificationInfos modificationInfos) {
         this.date = Instant.now().truncatedTo(ChronoUnit.MICROS);
         // Do not put this stashed status in assignAttributes, it's not part of a network modification as such.
         this.stashed = modificationInfos.getStashed();
-        this.activated = modificationInfos.getActivated();
+        // On creation, default a missing activation flag to true (a null value otherwise means "leave status unchanged" on update)
+        this.activated = modificationInfos.getActivated() != null ? modificationInfos.getActivated() : true;
 
         assignAttributes(modificationInfos);
     }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/gridsuite/modification/server/ModificationControllerTest.java b/src/test/java/org/gridsuite/modification/server/ModificationControllerTest.java
index 26f6a81d7..ecc85e483 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/gridsuite/modification/server/ModificationControllerTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/gridsuite/modification/server/ModificationControllerTest.java
@@ -471,6 +471,26 @@ void updateModificationDescription() throws Exception {
         assertEquals("new description", modificationRepository.getModifications(TEST_GROUP_ID, true, true).getFirst().getDescription());
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void updateModificationMetadataDoesNotModifyFieldsNotProvided() {
+        // create a composite modification and set all its metadata fields
+        UUID compositeUuid = modificationRepository.createNetworkCompositeModification(List.of());
+        modificationRepository.updateNetworkModificationMetadata(List.of(compositeUuid), CompositeModificationInfos.builder()
+                .name("composite name")
+                .description("composite description")
+                .activated(false)
+                .build());
+
+        // update the metadata again without providing any field
+        modificationRepository.updateNetworkModificationMetadata(List.of(compositeUuid), CompositeModificationInfos.builder().build());
+
+        // every field not provided must keep its previous value
+        CompositeModificationInfos result = (CompositeModificationInfos) modificationRepository.getModificationInfo(compositeUuid);
+        assertEquals("composite name", result.getName());
+        assertEquals("composite description", result.getDescription());
+        assertEquals(false, result.getActivated());
+    }
+
     @Test
     void testDeleteModification() throws Exception {
         MvcResult mvcResult;