diff --git a/models/BaseEntity.cfc b/models/BaseEntity.cfc
index c98ffa7e..37bfedf6 100644
--- a/models/BaseEntity.cfc
+++ b/models/BaseEntity.cfc
@@ -558,7 +558,12 @@ component accessors="true" {
 	 */
 	private void function syncVariablesScopeWithData() {
 		for ( var key in retrieveAttributeNames( withVirtualColumns = false ) ) {
-			if ( variables.keyExists( key ) && !isReadOnlyAttribute( key ) ) {
+			var column = retrieveColumnForAlias( key );
+			if (
+				variables.keyExists( key ) &&
+				!isReadOnlyAttribute( key ) &&
+				( variables._data.keyExists( column ) || !isNull( variables[ key ] ) )
+			) {
 				assignAttribute( key, variables[ key ] );
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/tests/specs/integration/BaseEntity/MetadataSpec.cfc b/tests/specs/integration/BaseEntity/MetadataSpec.cfc
index d5777e17..9ed128bd 100644
--- a/tests/specs/integration/BaseEntity/MetadataSpec.cfc
+++ b/tests/specs/integration/BaseEntity/MetadataSpec.cfc
@@ -114,6 +114,15 @@ component extends="tests.resources.ModuleIntegrationSpec" {
 					},
 					skip = !server.keyExists( "boxlang" )
 				);
+
+				it(
+					title = "does not persist uninitialized BoxLang accessor values",
+					body  = function() {
+						var user = getInstance( "User" );
+						expect( user.retrieveAttributesData() ).notToHaveKey( "created_date" );
+					},
+					skip = !server.keyExists( "boxlang" )
+				);
 			} );
 		} );
 	}