diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e05684db9e..f50e02b2fd 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 	<groupId>org.springframework.data</groupId>
 	<artifactId>spring-data-jpa</artifactId>
-	<version>2.1.0.BUILD-SNAPSHOT</version>
+	<version>2.1.0.DATAJPA-1261-SNAPSHOT</version>
 
 	<name>Spring Data JPA</name>
 	<description>Spring Data module for JPA repositories.</description>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/support/SimpleJpaRepository.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/support/SimpleJpaRepository.java
index 8ca9b53ea6..9110e5dc6d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/support/SimpleJpaRepository.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/support/SimpleJpaRepository.java
@@ -488,11 +488,9 @@ public <S extends T> S save(S entity) {
 		if (entityInformation.isNew(entity)) {
 			em.persist(entity);
 			return entity;
-		} else if (!em.contains(entity)) {
+		} else {
 			return em.merge(entity);
 		}
-
-		return entity;
 	}
 
 	/*
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/support/SimpleJpaRepositoryUnitTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/support/SimpleJpaRepositoryUnitTests.java
index 27d6fbe466..8ffa70e9cf 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/support/SimpleJpaRepositoryUnitTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/repository/support/SimpleJpaRepositoryUnitTests.java
@@ -145,8 +145,8 @@ public void mergeGetsCalledWhenDetached() {
 		verify(em).merge(detachedUser);
 	}
 
-	@Test // DATAJPA-931
-	public void mergeGetsNotCalledWhenAttached() {
+	@Test // DATAJPA-931, DATAJPA-1261
+	public void mergeGetsCalledWhenAttached() {
 
 		User attachedUser = new User();
 
@@ -154,6 +154,6 @@ public void mergeGetsNotCalledWhenAttached() {
 
 		repo.save(attachedUser);
 
-		verify(em, never()).merge(attachedUser);
+		verify(em).merge(attachedUser);
 	}
 }