diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/CreateTemplateCommand.java b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/CreateTemplateCommand.java
index fb5e3534f0e..69e19378b1a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/CreateTemplateCommand.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/CreateTemplateCommand.java
@@ -49,13 +49,16 @@ public Template execute(CommandContext ctxt) throws CommandException {
         }
 
         Template createdTemplate = ctxt.templates().save(template);
-
-        if (initialize && template.isIsDefaultForDataverse()) {
+        
+        createdTemplate.setIsDefaultForDataverse(template.isIsDefaultForDataverse());
+        if (initialize && createdTemplate.isIsDefaultForDataverse()) {
             dataverse.setDefaultTemplate(createdTemplate);
             ctxt.em().merge(dataverse);
-        }
+        }      
+        
+        ctxt.em().flush();
+        return createdTemplate;
 
-        return template;
     }
 
     private static void updateTermsOfUseAndAccess(CommandContext ctxt, Template template) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/CreateTemplateCommandTest.java b/src/test/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/CreateTemplateCommandTest.java
index bf3daa6c593..71bcbad98b8 100644
--- a/src/test/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/CreateTemplateCommandTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/engine/command/impl/CreateTemplateCommandTest.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import org.mockito.Mockito;
 import org.mockito.Spy;
 import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoExtension;
+import jakarta.persistence.EntityManager;
 
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -42,6 +43,8 @@ public class CreateTemplateCommandTest {
     private LicenseServiceBean licenseServiceBeanMock;
     @Mock
     private DataverseFieldTypeInputLevelServiceBean fieldTypeInputLevelServiceBeanMock;
+    @Mock
+    private EntityManager em;
 
     @Spy
     private Template templateSpy;
@@ -53,6 +56,7 @@ public class CreateTemplateCommandTest {
     public void setUp() {
         dataverseRequestStub = Mockito.mock(DataverseRequest.class);
         when(contextMock.templates()).thenReturn(templateServiceBeanStub);
+        when(contextMock.em()).thenReturn(em);
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -60,8 +64,10 @@ public void execute_shouldSaveTemplate_noInitialization() throws CommandExceptio
         // Create the command with initialization set to false
 
         CreateTemplateCommand sut = new CreateTemplateCommand(templateSpy, dataverseRequestStub, dataverseMock, false);
-
+        Template savedTemplate = mock(Template.class);
+        when(templateServiceBeanStub.save(templateSpy)).thenReturn(savedTemplate);
         // Act
+        
 
         sut.execute(contextMock);
 
@@ -83,6 +89,9 @@ public void execute_shouldInitializeAndSaveTemplate_withInitialization() throws
 
         when(dataverseMock.getId()).thenReturn(42L);
         when(dataverseMock.isMetadataBlockRoot()).thenReturn(true);
+                
+        Template savedTemplate = mock(Template.class);
+        when(templateServiceBeanStub.save(templateSpy)).thenReturn(savedTemplate);
 
         // Mock system metadata blocks