diff --git a/includes/data-stores/class-wc-product-data-store-cpt.php b/includes/data-stores/class-wc-product-data-store-cpt.php
index 66201945a1e..58907a4897c 100644
--- a/includes/data-stores/class-wc-product-data-store-cpt.php
+++ b/includes/data-stores/class-wc-product-data-store-cpt.php
@@ -221,6 +221,19 @@ class WC_Product_Data_Store_CPT extends WC_Data_Store_WP implements WC_Object_Da
 				wp_update_post( array_merge( array( 'ID' => $product->get_id() ), $post_data ) );
 			}
 			$product->read_meta_data( true ); // Refresh internal meta data, in case things were hooked into `save_post` or another WP hook.
+
+		} else { // Only update post modified time to record this save event.
+			$GLOBALS['wpdb']->update(
+				$GLOBALS['wpdb']->posts,
+				array(
+					'post_modified'     => current_time( 'mysql' ),
+					'post_modified_gmt' => current_time( 'mysql', 1 ),
+				),
+				array(
+					'ID' => $product->get_id(),
+				)
+			);
+			clean_post_cache( $product->get_id() );
 		}
 
 		$this->update_post_meta( $product );
diff --git a/includes/data-stores/class-wc-product-variation-data-store-cpt.php b/includes/data-stores/class-wc-product-variation-data-store-cpt.php
index b5ad1b673be..e98d178711e 100644
--- a/includes/data-stores/class-wc-product-variation-data-store-cpt.php
+++ b/includes/data-stores/class-wc-product-variation-data-store-cpt.php
@@ -207,6 +207,19 @@ class WC_Product_Variation_Data_Store_CPT extends WC_Product_Data_Store_CPT impl
 				wp_update_post( array_merge( array( 'ID' => $product->get_id() ), $post_data ) );
 			}
 			$product->read_meta_data( true ); // Refresh internal meta data, in case things were hooked into `save_post` or another WP hook.
+
+		} else { // Only update post modified time to record this save event.
+			$GLOBALS['wpdb']->update(
+				$GLOBALS['wpdb']->posts,
+				array(
+					'post_modified'     => current_time( 'mysql' ),
+					'post_modified_gmt' => current_time( 'mysql', 1 ),
+				),
+				array(
+					'ID' => $product->get_id(),
+				)
+			);
+			clean_post_cache( $product->get_id() );
 		}
 
 		$this->update_post_meta( $product );