diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/ContentEntityBase.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/ContentEntityBase.php
index 7f7c127efb..5b821c8de0 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/ContentEntityBase.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/ContentEntityBase.php
@@ -335,11 +335,10 @@ public function isDefaultRevision($new_value = NULL) {
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function wasDefaultRevision() {
-    $value = $this->get('default_revision')->value;
-    if (isset($value)) {
-      return (bool) $value;
+    if (!$this->getEntityType()->isRevisionable()) {
+      throw new \LogicException("Entity type {$this->getEntityTypeId()} does not support revisions.");
     }
-    throw new \LogicException('The "default_revision" field data is missing for entity ' . (int) $this->id() . '.');
+    return (bool) $this->get('default_revision')->value;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -1280,23 +1279,34 @@ protected function getEntityKey($key) {
    */
   public static function baseFieldDefinitions(EntityTypeInterface $entity_type) {
     $fields = [];
+
     if ($entity_type->hasKey('id')) {
       $fields[$entity_type->getKey('id')] = BaseFieldDefinition::create('integer')
         ->setLabel(new TranslatableMarkup('ID'))
         ->setReadOnly(TRUE)
         ->setSetting('unsigned', TRUE);
     }
+
     if ($entity_type->hasKey('uuid')) {
       $fields[$entity_type->getKey('uuid')] = BaseFieldDefinition::create('uuid')
         ->setLabel(new TranslatableMarkup('UUID'))
         ->setReadOnly(TRUE);
     }
-    if ($entity_type->hasKey('revision')) {
+
+    if ($entity_type->isRevisionable()) {
       $fields[$entity_type->getKey('revision')] = BaseFieldDefinition::create('integer')
         ->setLabel(new TranslatableMarkup('Revision ID'))
         ->setReadOnly(TRUE)
         ->setSetting('unsigned', TRUE);
+
+      $fields['default_revision'] = BaseFieldDefinition::create('boolean')
+        ->setLabel(new TranslatableMarkup('Default revision'))
+        ->setDescription(new TranslatableMarkup('A flag indicating whether this was a default revision when it was saved.'))
+        ->setTranslatable(FALSE)
+        ->setRevisionable(TRUE)
+        ->setRequired(TRUE);
     }
+
     if ($entity_type->hasKey('langcode')) {
       $fields[$entity_type->getKey('langcode')] = BaseFieldDefinition::create('language')
         ->setLabel(new TranslatableMarkup('Language'))
@@ -1314,6 +1324,7 @@ public static function baseFieldDefinitions(EntityTypeInterface $entity_type) {
         $fields[$entity_type->getKey('langcode')]->setTranslatable(TRUE);
       }
     }
+
     if ($entity_type->hasKey('bundle')) {
       if ($bundle_entity_type_id = $entity_type->getBundleEntityType()) {
         $fields[$entity_type->getKey('bundle')] = BaseFieldDefinition::create('entity_reference')
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/ContentEntityInterface.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/ContentEntityInterface.php
index bb0b8ef9bb..e85a299312 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/ContentEntityInterface.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/ContentEntityInterface.php
@@ -111,6 +111,10 @@ public function updateLoadedRevisionId();
    *
    * @return bool
    *   TRUE if the entity object was a revision, FALSE otherwise.
+   *
+   * @throws \LogicException
+   *   If the entity type is not revisionable or the default revision data is
+   *   missing.
    */
   public function wasDefaultRevision();
 
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityFieldManager.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityFieldManager.php
index f32f672d77..040a34c681 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityFieldManager.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityFieldManager.php
@@ -220,16 +220,6 @@ protected function buildBaseFieldDefinitions($entity_type_id) {
       }
     }
 
-    // Make sure that revisionable entity types are correctly defined.
-    if ($entity_type->isRevisionable()) {
-      $base_field_definitions['default_revision'] = BaseFieldDefinition::create('boolean')
-        ->setLabel($this->t('Default revision'))
-        ->setDescription($this->t('A flag indicating whether this was a default revision when it was saved.'))
-        ->setTranslatable(FALSE)
-        ->setRevisionable(TRUE)
-        ->setDefaultValue(TRUE);
-    }
-
     // Make sure that revisionable and translatable entity types are correctly
     // defined.
     if ($entity_type->isRevisionable() && $entity_type->isTranslatable()) {
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Sql/SqlContentEntityStorageSchemaConverter.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Sql/SqlContentEntityStorageSchemaConverter.php
index ba6e1988be..fb497523bd 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Sql/SqlContentEntityStorageSchemaConverter.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Sql/SqlContentEntityStorageSchemaConverter.php
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ protected function updateFieldStorageDefinitionsToRevisionable(ContentEntityType
       ->setDescription(new TranslatableMarkup('A flag indicating whether this was a default revision when it was saved.'))
       ->setTranslatable(FALSE)
       ->setRevisionable(TRUE)
-      ->setDefaultValue(TRUE);
+      ->setRequired(TRUE);
 
     if ($update_cached_definitions) {
       $this->entityDefinitionUpdateManager->installFieldStorageDefinition($revision_type_field->getName(), $entity_type->id(), $entity_type->getProvider(), $revision_type_field);
diff --git a/core/modules/system/system.install b/core/modules/system/system.install
index c7a4ad4654..2f59ad4255 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/system.install
+++ b/core/modules/system/system.install
@@ -2082,7 +2082,7 @@ function system_update_8501() {
         ->setDescription(t('A flag indicating whether this was a default revision when it was saved.'))
         ->setTranslatable(FALSE)
         ->setRevisionable(TRUE)
-        ->setDefaultValue(TRUE)
+        ->setRequired(TRUE)
         ->setInitialValue(TRUE);
 
       $definition_update_manager
diff --git a/core/tests/Drupal/FunctionalTests/Update/UpdatePathTestBase.php b/core/tests/Drupal/FunctionalTests/Update/UpdatePathTestBase.php
index a36d04dc15..4aca50032b 100644
--- a/core/tests/Drupal/FunctionalTests/Update/UpdatePathTestBase.php
+++ b/core/tests/Drupal/FunctionalTests/Update/UpdatePathTestBase.php
@@ -374,6 +374,7 @@ protected function runUpdates() {
 
       // Ensure that the update hooks updated all entity schema.
       $needs_updates = \Drupal::entityDefinitionUpdateManager()->needsUpdates();
+      $this->assertFalse($needs_updates, 'After all updates ran, entity schema is up to date.');
       if ($needs_updates) {
         foreach (\Drupal::entityDefinitionUpdateManager()
           ->getChangeSummary() as $entity_type_id => $summary) {
@@ -382,7 +383,6 @@ protected function runUpdates() {
           }
         }
       }
-      $this->assertFalse($needs_updates, 'After all updates ran, entity schema is up to date.');
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Entity/EntityDefinitionUpdateTest.php b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Entity/EntityDefinitionUpdateTest.php
index 348c33cbb8..fa55935bba 100644
--- a/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Entity/EntityDefinitionUpdateTest.php
+++ b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Entity/EntityDefinitionUpdateTest.php
@@ -113,7 +113,6 @@ public function testEntityTypeUpdateWithoutData() {
         // The revision key is now defined, so the revision field needs to be
         // created.
         t('The %field_name field needs to be installed.', ['%field_name' => 'Revision ID']),
-        t('The %field_name field needs to be installed.', ['%field_name' => 'Default revision']),
       ],
     ];
     $this->assertEqual($this->entityDefinitionUpdateManager->getChangeSummary(), $expected, 'EntityDefinitionUpdateManager reports the expected change summary.');