diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Services/ContentService.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Services/ContentService.cs
index ed438d6967..a65b37f31d 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Services/ContentService.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Services/ContentService.cs
@@ -1054,6 +1054,22 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Services
             return SaveAndPublishDo(content, omitCacheRefresh, userId, raiseEvents);
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets a collection of <see cref="IContent"/> descendants by the first Parent.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="content"><see cref="IContent"/> item to retrieve Descendants from</param>
+        /// <returns>An Enumerable list of <see cref="IContent"/> objects</returns>
+        internal IEnumerable<IContent> GetPublishedDescendants(IContent content)
+        {
+            using (var repository = _repositoryFactory.CreateContentRepository(_uowProvider.GetUnitOfWork()))
+            {
+                var query = Query<IContent>.Builder.Where(x => x.Id != content.Id && x.Path.StartsWith(content.Path) && x.Published == true && x.Trashed == false);
+                var contents = repository.GetByQuery(query);
+
+                return contents;
+            }
+        }
+
         #endregion
 
         #region Private Methods
@@ -1243,6 +1259,9 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Services
                 return false;
             }
 
+            //Has this content item previously been published? If so, we don't need to refresh the children
+	        var previouslyPublished = HasPublishedVersion(content.Id);
+
             //Check if parent is published (although not if its a root node) - if parent isn't published this Content cannot be published
             if (content.ParentId != -1 && content.ParentId != -20 && IsPublishable(content) == false)
             {
@@ -1294,13 +1313,12 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Services
             if (omitCacheRefresh == false)
                 _publishingStrategy.PublishingFinalized(content);
 
-            //We need to check if children and their publish state to ensure that we republish content that was previously published
-            if (omitCacheRefresh == false && HasChildren(content.Id))
+            //We need to check if children and their publish state to ensure that we 'republish' content that was previously published
+            if (omitCacheRefresh == false && previouslyPublished == false && HasChildren(content.Id))
             {
-                var children = GetDescendants(content);
-                var shouldBeRepublished = children.Where(child => HasPublishedVersion(child.Id));
+                var descendants = GetPublishedDescendants(content);
 
-                _publishingStrategy.PublishingFinalized(shouldBeRepublished, false);
+                _publishingStrategy.PublishingFinalized(descendants, false);
             }
 
             Audit.Add(AuditTypes.Publish, "Save and Publish performed by user", userId, content.Id);
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Persistence/Querying/QueryBuilderTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Persistence/Querying/QueryBuilderTests.cs
index 46bc9099ac..282d93bd1c 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Persistence/Querying/QueryBuilderTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Persistence/Querying/QueryBuilderTests.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 using System;
 using NUnit.Framework;
 using Umbraco.Core.Models;
+using Umbraco.Core.Models.Rdbms;
 using Umbraco.Core.Persistence;
 using Umbraco.Core.Persistence.Querying;
 using Umbraco.Tests.TestHelpers;
@@ -78,5 +79,35 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Persistence.Querying
             Assert.That(strResult, Is.EqualTo(expectedResult));
             Console.WriteLine(strResult);
         }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void Can_Build_PublishedDescendants_Query_For_IContent()
+        {
+            // Arrange
+            var path = "-1,1046,1076,1089";
+            var id = 1046;
+            var nodeObjectTypeId = new Guid("C66BA18E-EAF3-4CFF-8A22-41B16D66A972");
+
+            var sql = new Sql();
+            sql.Select("*")
+                .From<DocumentDto>()
+                .InnerJoin<ContentVersionDto>()
+                .On<DocumentDto, ContentVersionDto>(left => left.VersionId, right => right.VersionId)
+                .InnerJoin<ContentDto>()
+                .On<ContentVersionDto, ContentDto>(left => left.NodeId, right => right.NodeId)
+                .InnerJoin<NodeDto>()
+                .On<ContentDto, NodeDto>(left => left.NodeId, right => right.NodeId)
+                .Where<NodeDto>(x => x.NodeObjectType == nodeObjectTypeId);
+
+            var query = Query<IContent>.Builder.Where(x => x.Path.StartsWith(path) && x.Id != id && x.Published == true && x.Trashed == false);
+
+            // Act
+            var translator = new SqlTranslator<IContent>(sql, query);
+            var result = translator.Translate();
+            var strResult = result.SQL;
+
+            // Assert
+            Console.WriteLine(strResult);
+        }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/umbraco.presentation/umbraco/editContent.aspx.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/umbraco.presentation/umbraco/editContent.aspx.cs
index 08fa0f6ed8..d6ef34ee67 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/umbraco.presentation/umbraco/editContent.aspx.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/umbraco.presentation/umbraco/editContent.aspx.cs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
 using Umbraco.Core;
 using Umbraco.Core.Models;
 using Umbraco.Core.Persistence.Caching;
+using Umbraco.Core.Services;
 using umbraco.BusinessLogic.Actions;
 using umbraco.IO;
 using umbraco.uicontrols.DatePicker;
@@ -316,6 +317,8 @@ namespace umbraco.cms.presentation
             {
                 if (_document.Level == 1 || _document.PathPublished)
                 {
+                    var previouslyPublished = _document.HasPublishedVersion();
+
                     Trace.Warn("before d.publish");
 
                     if (_document.PublishWithResult(base.getUser()))
@@ -330,15 +333,19 @@ namespace umbraco.cms.presentation
 
                         _documentHasPublishedVersion = _document.HasPublishedVersion();
 
-                        var descendants = ApplicationContext.Current.Services.ContentService.GetDescendants(_document.Id);
-                        var publishableDescendants = descendants.Where(descendant => descendant.HasPublishedVersion()).ToList();
-                        if(publishableDescendants.Any())
+                        if (previouslyPublished == false)
                         {
-                            foreach (var descendant in publishableDescendants)
+                            var descendants = ((ContentService) ApplicationContext.Current.Services.ContentService)
+                                .GetPublishedDescendants(_document.Content).ToList();
+
+                            if (descendants.Any())
                             {
-                                library.UpdateDocumentCache(descendant.Id);
+                                foreach (var descendant in descendants)
+                                {
+                                    library.UpdateDocumentCache(descendant.Id);
+                                }
+                                library.RefreshContent();
                             }
-                            library.RefreshContent();
                         }
                     }
                     else