diff --git a/core/modules/entity/lib/Drupal/entity/DatabaseStorageController.php b/core/modules/entity/lib/Drupal/entity/DatabaseStorageController.php
index 0942f292a7493059b389a44702491b3f304d79cf..1ca440eb945f47d6ce7fa3f7f8a9e04ee501f73d 100644
--- a/core/modules/entity/lib/Drupal/entity/DatabaseStorageController.php
+++ b/core/modules/entity/lib/Drupal/entity/DatabaseStorageController.php
@@ -318,8 +318,8 @@ class DatabaseStorageController implements EntityStorageControllerInterface {
       $query->fields('revision', $entity_revision_fields);
 
       // Compare revision id of the base and revision table, if equal then this
-      // is the current revision.
-      $query->addExpression('base.' . $this->revisionKey . ' = revision.' . $this->revisionKey, 'isCurrentRevision');
+      // is the default revision.
+      $query->addExpression('base.' . $this->revisionKey . ' = revision.' . $this->revisionKey, 'isDefaultRevision');
     }
 
     $query->fields('base', $entity_fields);
diff --git a/core/modules/entity/lib/Drupal/entity/Entity.php b/core/modules/entity/lib/Drupal/entity/Entity.php
index 2d6ac5c54163ad6c2f2c93ab401f83b052366af6..abab6512ac5ff528b0f2b9bdff1bc07a9178be6b 100644
--- a/core/modules/entity/lib/Drupal/entity/Entity.php
+++ b/core/modules/entity/lib/Drupal/entity/Entity.php
@@ -41,11 +41,11 @@ class Entity implements EntityInterface {
   protected $enforceIsNew;
 
   /**
-   * Indicates whether this is the current revision.
+   * Indicates whether this is the default revision.
    *
    * @var bool
    */
-  public $isCurrentRevision = TRUE;
+  public $isDefaultRevision = TRUE;
 
   /**
    * Constructs a new entity object.
@@ -278,10 +278,10 @@ class Entity implements EntityInterface {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Implements Drupal\entity\EntityInterface::isCurrentRevision().
+   * Implements Drupal\entity\EntityInterface::isDefaultRevision().
    */
-  public function isCurrentRevision() {
-    return $this->isCurrentRevision;
+  public function isDefaultRevision() {
+    return $this->isDefaultRevision;
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/entity/lib/Drupal/entity/EntityInterface.php b/core/modules/entity/lib/Drupal/entity/EntityInterface.php
index a111d55ba63b842dba0b523c13b4a156b8ccfc7a..395256caafa91c9a53cd00b52aeebfd1940ed727 100644
--- a/core/modules/entity/lib/Drupal/entity/EntityInterface.php
+++ b/core/modules/entity/lib/Drupal/entity/EntityInterface.php
@@ -209,10 +209,10 @@ interface EntityInterface {
   public function getRevisionId();
 
   /**
-   * Checks if this entity is the current revision.
+   * Checks if this entity is the default revision.
    *
    * @return bool
-   *   TRUE if the entity is the current revision, FALSE otherwise.
+   *   TRUE if the entity is the default revision, FALSE otherwise.
    */
-  public function isCurrentRevision();
+  public function isDefaultRevision();
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/field/modules/field_sql_storage/field_sql_storage.module b/core/modules/field/modules/field_sql_storage/field_sql_storage.module
index 69e8bda6e000ca3ccf14e9f09bcc58aa1f691d8e..91956adbd78ab602411cf8648eed00c78a018533 100644
--- a/core/modules/field/modules/field_sql_storage/field_sql_storage.module
+++ b/core/modules/field/modules/field_sql_storage/field_sql_storage.module
@@ -400,11 +400,15 @@ function field_sql_storage_field_storage_write($entity_type, $entity, $op, $fiel
       // Delete all language codes if $entity->$field_name is empty.
       $langcodes = !empty($entity->$field_name) ? $field_langcodes : $all_langcodes;
       if ($langcodes) {
-        db_delete($table_name)
-          ->condition('entity_type', $entity_type)
-          ->condition('entity_id', $id)
-          ->condition('langcode', $langcodes, 'IN')
-          ->execute();
+        // Only overwrite the field's base table if saving the default revision
+        // of an entity.
+        if ($entity->isDefaultRevision()) {
+          db_delete($table_name)
+            ->condition('entity_type', $entity_type)
+            ->condition('entity_id', $id)
+            ->condition('langcode', $langcodes, 'IN')
+            ->execute();
+        }
         db_delete($revision_name)
           ->condition('entity_type', $entity_type)
           ->condition('entity_id', $id)
@@ -453,7 +457,11 @@ function field_sql_storage_field_storage_write($entity_type, $entity, $op, $fiel
 
     // Execute the query if we have values to insert.
     if ($do_insert) {
-      $query->execute();
+      // Only overwrite the field's base table if saving the default revision
+      // of an entity.
+      if ($entity->isDefaultRevision()) {
+        $query->execute();
+      }
       $revision_query->execute();
     }
   }
diff --git a/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Node.php b/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Node.php
index a96f309fe8e9bc1fd3e5a20e8ad7b8139248cb48..51077c71b3cdab9acd9258fb0ba1e798141e66d2 100644
--- a/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Node.php
+++ b/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Node.php
@@ -30,6 +30,16 @@ class Node extends Entity implements ContentEntityInterface {
   public $vid;
 
   /**
+   * Indicates whether this is the default node revision.
+   *
+   * The default revision of a node is the one loaded when no specific revision
+   * has been specified. Only default revisions are saved to the node table.
+   *
+   * @var boolean
+   */
+  public $isDefaultRevision = TRUE;
+
+  /**
    * The node UUID.
    *
    * @var string
diff --git a/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/NodeFormController.php b/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/NodeFormController.php
index b99547e6bf2fd18d185a975d24460621048df812..5fefafdc74b9fa37d08e842a0200394b7ad37c2b 100644
--- a/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/NodeFormController.php
+++ b/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/NodeFormController.php
@@ -148,6 +148,18 @@ class NodeFormController extends EntityFormController {
       );
     }
 
+    $form['revision_information']['isDefaultRevision'] = array(
+      '#type' => 'checkbox',
+      '#title' => t('Set as default revision'),
+      '#default_value' => TRUE,
+      '#access' => user_access('administer nodes'),
+      '#states' => array(
+        'visible' => array(
+          ':input[name="revision"]' => array('checked' => TRUE),
+        ),
+      ),
+    );
+
     $form['revision_information']['log'] = array(
       '#type' => 'textarea',
       '#title' => t('Revision log message'),
diff --git a/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/NodeStorageController.php b/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/NodeStorageController.php
index 898aa71fa3bc4cbe2a1e89d4ca7dfeab3675bf26..d82a454667ff42c7c57a02ef3e4e676cc68ecc80 100644
--- a/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/NodeStorageController.php
+++ b/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/NodeStorageController.php
@@ -100,7 +100,16 @@ class NodeStorageController extends DatabaseStorageController {
       }
       else {
         $op = 'update';
-        $return = drupal_write_record($this->entityInfo['base table'], $entity, $this->idKey);
+        // Update the base node table, but only if this revision is marked as
+        // the default.
+        if ($entity->isDefaultRevision()) {
+          $return = drupal_write_record($this->entityInfo['base table'], $entity, $this->idKey);
+        }
+        else {
+          // @todo, should a different value be returned when saving an entity
+          // with $isDefaultRevision = FALSE?
+          $return = FALSE;
+        }
       }
 
       if ($this->revisionKey) {
@@ -139,19 +148,19 @@ class NodeStorageController extends DatabaseStorageController {
 
     if (empty($entity->{$this->revisionKey}) || !empty($entity->revision)) {
       drupal_write_record($this->revisionTable, $record);
-      db_update($this->entityInfo['base table'])
-        ->fields(array($this->revisionKey => $record->{$this->revisionKey}))
-        ->condition($this->idKey, $entity->{$this->idKey})
-        ->execute();
+      // Only update the base node table if this revision is the default.
+      if ($entity->isDefaultRevision()) {
+        db_update($this->entityInfo['base table'])
+          ->fields(array($this->revisionKey => $record->{$this->revisionKey}))
+          ->condition($this->idKey, $entity->{$this->idKey})
+          ->execute();
+      }
     }
     else {
       drupal_write_record($this->revisionTable, $record, $this->revisionKey);
     }
     // Make sure to update the new revision key for the entity.
     $entity->{$this->revisionKey} = $record->{$this->revisionKey};
-
-    // Mark this revision as the current one.
-    $entity->isCurrentRevision(TRUE);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -263,9 +272,13 @@ class NodeStorageController extends DatabaseStorageController {
    * Overrides Drupal\entity\DatabaseStorageController::postSave().
    */
   function postSave(EntityInterface $node, $update) {
-    node_access_acquire_grants($node, $update);
+    // Update the node access table for this node, but only if it is the 
+    // default revision. There's no need to delete existing records if the node
+    // is new.
+    if ($node->isDefaultRevision()) {
+      node_access_acquire_grants($node, $update);
+    }
   }
-
   /**
    * Overrides Drupal\entity\DatabaseStorageController::preDelete().
    */
diff --git a/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Tests/NodeRevisionsTest.php b/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Tests/NodeRevisionsTest.php
index 6b1b14112353eb071880419a3b1fb8c2966dd8e3..760b55b81fed9d373b6cc46dd016102d7e8ccc67 100644
--- a/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Tests/NodeRevisionsTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Tests/NodeRevisionsTest.php
@@ -24,13 +24,14 @@ class NodeRevisionsTest extends NodeTestBase {
 
     // Create and login user.
     $web_user = $this->drupalCreateUser(array('view revisions', 'revert revisions', 'edit any page content',
-                                               'delete revisions', 'delete any page content'));
+                                               'delete revisions', 'delete any page content', 'administer nodes'));
     $this->drupalLogin($web_user);
 
     // Create initial node.
     $node = $this->drupalCreateNode();
     $settings = get_object_vars($node);
     $settings['revision'] = 1;
+    $settings['isDefaultRevision'] = TRUE;
 
     $nodes = array();
     $logs = array();
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ class NodeRevisionsTest extends NodeTestBase {
       $this->drupalCreateNode($settings);
       $node = node_load($node->nid); // Make sure we get revision information.
       $settings = get_object_vars($node);
+      $settings['isDefaultRevision'] = TRUE;
 
       $nodes[] = $node;
     }
@@ -75,8 +77,8 @@ class NodeRevisionsTest extends NodeTestBase {
       $this->assertText($log, t('Log message found.'));
     }
 
-    // Confirm that this is the current revision.
-    $this->assertTrue($node->isCurrentRevision(), 'Third node revision is the current one.');
+    // Confirm that this is the default revision.
+    $this->assertTrue($node->isDefaultRevision(), 'Third node revision is the default one.');
 
     // Confirm that revisions revert properly.
     $this->drupalPost("node/$node->nid/revisions/{$nodes[1]->vid}/revert", array(), t('Revert'));
@@ -86,9 +88,9 @@ class NodeRevisionsTest extends NodeTestBase {
     $reverted_node = node_load($node->nid);
     $this->assertTrue(($nodes[1]->body[LANGUAGE_NOT_SPECIFIED][0]['value'] == $reverted_node->body[LANGUAGE_NOT_SPECIFIED][0]['value']), t('Node reverted correctly.'));
 
-    // Confirm that this is not the current version.
+    // Confirm that this is not the default version.
     $node = node_revision_load($node->vid);
-    $this->assertFalse($node->isCurrentRevision(), 'Third node revision is not the current one.');
+    $this->assertFalse($node->isDefaultRevision(), 'Third node revision is not the default one.');
 
     // Confirm revisions delete properly.
     $this->drupalPost("node/$node->nid/revisions/{$nodes[1]->vid}/delete", array(), t('Delete'));
@@ -112,6 +114,44 @@ class NodeRevisionsTest extends NodeTestBase {
       '%title' => $nodes[2]->label(),
       '%revision-date' => format_date($old_revision_date),
     )));
+
+    // Make a new revision and set it to not be default.
+    // This will create a "forward revision."
+    $edit = array();
+    $langcode = LANGUAGE_NOT_SPECIFIED;
+    $new_body = $this->randomName();
+    $edit["body[$langcode][0][value]"] = $new_body;
+    // Save this as a forward revision.
+    $edit["revision"] = TRUE;
+    $edit["isDefaultRevision"] = FALSE;
+    $this->drupalPost("node/$node->nid/edit", $edit, t('Save'));
+    $this->drupalGet("node/$node->nid");
+    $this->assertNoText($new_body, t('Forward revision body text is not present on default version of node.'));
+
+    // Get the highest vid for this node.
+    $versions = db_select('node_revision', 'nr')
+      ->fields('nr', array('vid'))
+      ->condition('nid', $node->nid)
+      ->orderBy('nr.vid', 'DESC')
+      ->range(0,1)
+      ->execute()
+      ->fetchCol();
+
+    $forward_revision_vid = $versions[0];
+
+    // Verify that the new body text is present on the forward revision.
+    $this->drupalGet("node/$node->nid/revisions/" . $forward_revision_vid . "/view");
+    $this->assertText($new_body, t('Forward revision body text is present on forward version of node.'));
+
+    // Verify that the forward revision vid is greater than the default
+    // revision vid.
+    $default_revision = db_select('node', 'n')
+      ->fields('n', array('vid'))
+      ->condition('nid', $node->nid)
+      ->execute()
+      ->fetchCol();
+    $default_revision_vid = $default_revision[0];
+    $this->assertTrue($forward_revision_vid > $default_revision_vid, 'Forward revision vid is greater than default revision vid.');
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/modules/node/node.module b/core/modules/node/node.module
index 7ebb1dcee5082998fc6a56bcc948c8f803abec11..2a34790698f6c23db306eae4be0980f14f98ea0e 100644
--- a/core/modules/node/node.module
+++ b/core/modules/node/node.module
@@ -1105,8 +1105,8 @@ function node_delete_multiple($nids) {
  */
 function node_revision_delete($revision_id) {
   if ($revision = node_revision_load($revision_id)) {
-    // Prevent deleting the current revision.
-    if ($revision->isCurrentRevision()) {
+    // Prevent deleting the default revision.
+    if ($revision->isDefaultRevision()) {
       return FALSE;
     }
 
@@ -1771,20 +1771,20 @@ function _node_revision_access(Node $node, $op = 'view', $account = NULL, $langc
     }
 
     // There should be at least two revisions. If the vid of the given node
-    // and the vid of the current revision differ, then we already have two
+    // and the vid of the default revision differ, then we already have two
     // different revisions so there is no need for a separate database check.
-    // Also, if you try to revert to or delete the current revision, that's
+    // Also, if you try to revert to or delete the default revision, that's
     // not good.
-    if ($node->isCurrentRevision() && (db_query('SELECT COUNT(vid) FROM {node_revision} WHERE nid = :nid', array(':nid' => $node->nid))->fetchField() == 1 || $op == 'update' || $op == 'delete')) {
+    if ($node->isDefaultRevision() && (db_query('SELECT COUNT(vid) FROM {node_revision} WHERE nid = :nid', array(':nid' => $node->nid))->fetchField() == 1 || $op == 'update' || $op == 'delete')) {
       $access[$cid] = FALSE;
     }
     elseif (user_access('administer nodes', $account)) {
       $access[$cid] = TRUE;
     }
     else {
-      // First check the access to the current revision and finally, if the
-      // node passed in is not the current revision then access to that, too.
-      $access[$cid] = node_access($op, node_load($node->nid), $account, $langcode) && ($node->isCurrentRevision() || node_access($op, $node, $account, $langcode));
+      // First check the access to the default revision and finally, if the
+      // node passed in is not the default revision then access to that, too.
+      $access[$cid] = node_access($op, node_load($node->nid), $account, $langcode) && ($node->isDefaultRevision() || node_access($op, $node, $account, $langcode));
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
index 76fbae4538f06f6e367c5cf44c4b57d8ef2a6af8..3f1fc55eaed478acc34c02e359f82aa4550467f2 100644
--- a/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
+++ b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
@@ -1581,7 +1581,7 @@ function taxonomy_build_node_index($node) {
     }
   }
   // We only maintain the taxonomy index for published nodes.
-  if ($status) {
+  if ($status && $node->isDefaultRevision()) {
     // Collect a unique list of all the term IDs from all node fields.
     $tid_all = array();
     foreach (field_info_instances('node', $node->type) as $instance) {