diff --git a/includes/translation.handler.inc b/includes/translation.handler.inc
index ca61350..32f3089 100644
--- a/includes/translation.handler.inc
+++ b/includes/translation.handler.inc
@@ -934,15 +934,16 @@ class EntityTranslationDefaultHandler implements EntityTranslationHandlerInterfa
   public function setEntity($entity) {
     $this->entity = $entity;
 
+    // Update entity properties.
+    list($this->entityId, $this->revisionId, $this->bundle) = entity_extract_ids($this->entityType, $this->entity);
+
     // Ensure translations data is populated.
     $translations_key = $this->getTranslationsKey();
     if ($translations_key && !isset($this->entity->{$translations_key})) {
-      $this->entity->{$translations_key} = self::emptyTranslations();
+      // Creates the translations key on the entity object.
+      $this->getTranslations();
     }
 
-    // Update entity properties.
-    list($this->entityId, $this->revisionId, $this->bundle) = entity_extract_ids($this->entityType, $this->entity);
-
     // Initialize the handler id if needed.
     if (!empty($this->factory)) {
       $this->factory->getHandlerId($this->entityType, $entity);