diff --git a/core/modules/block_content/block_content.install b/core/modules/block_content/block_content.install
index 4e2ecaf..8dd925f 100644
--- a/core/modules/block_content/block_content.install
+++ b/core/modules/block_content/block_content.install
@@ -74,21 +74,24 @@ function block_content_update_8003() {
  * Add and populate publishing status fields.
  */
 function block_content_update_8300() {
-  $db = \Drupal::database();
-  $db_schema = $db->schema();
-  if ($db_schema->fieldExists('block_content_field_data', 'content_translation_status')) {
-    $db->update('block_content_field_data', 'bcfd')
+  $database = \Drupal::database();
+  $schema = $database->schema();
+  // Content Translation adds the content_translation_status field, to use this
+  // as an initial_from_field it can't be null and needs to be set to 1.
+  if ($schema->fieldExists('block_content_field_data', 'content_translation_status')) {
+    $database->update('block_content_field_data')
       ->fields(['content_translation_status' => 1])
       ->isNull('content_translation_status')
       ->execute();
   }
-  if ($db_schema->fieldExists('block_content_field_revision', 'content_translation_status')) {
-    $db->update('block_content_field_revision', 'bcfd')
+  if ($schema->fieldExists('block_content_field_revision', 'content_translation_status')) {
+    $database->update('block_content_field_revision')
       ->fields(['content_translation_status' => 1])
       ->isNull('content_translation_status')
       ->execute();
   }
 
+  // Add the published entity key to the block_content entity type.
   $manager = \Drupal::entityDefinitionUpdateManager();
   $entity_type = $manager->getEntityType('block_content');
   $entity_keys = $entity_type->getKeys();
@@ -97,26 +100,32 @@ function block_content_update_8300() {
   $entity_type->setHandlerClass('storage_schema', BlockContentStorageSchema::class);
   $manager->updateEntityType($entity_type);
 
+  // Install the publishing status field to the block_content entity type.
   $status = BaseFieldDefinition::create('boolean')
     ->setLabel(new TranslatableMarkup('Publishing status'))
     ->setDescription(new TranslatableMarkup('A boolean indicating the published state.'))
     ->setRevisionable(TRUE)
     ->setTranslatable(TRUE)
     ->setDefaultValue(TRUE);
-
   $manager->installFieldStorageDefinition('status', 'block_content', 'block_content', $status);
 
+  // Empty the content_translation_status field before uninstalling.
+  if ($schema->fieldExists('block_content_field_data', 'content_translation_status')) {
+    $database->update('block_content_field_data')
+      ->fields(['content_translation_status' => NULL])
+      ->execute();
+  }
+  if ($schema->fieldExists('block_content_field_revision', 'content_translation_status')) {
+    $database->update('block_content_field_revision')
+      ->fields(['content_translation_status' => NULL])
+      ->execute();
+  }
+
+  // Uninstall the content_translation_status field if it existed.
   $content_translation_status = $manager->getFieldStorageDefinition('content_translation_status', 'block_content');
   if ($content_translation_status instanceof FieldStorageDefinitionInterface) {
     $manager->uninstallFieldStorageDefinition($content_translation_status);
   }
-
-  if ($db_schema->fieldExists('block_content_field_data', 'content_translation_status')) {
-    $db_schema->dropField('block_content_field_data', 'content_translation_status');
-  }
-  if ($db_schema->fieldExists('block_content_field_revision', 'content_translation_status')) {
-    $db_schema->dropField('block_content_field_revision', 'content_translation_status');
-  }
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/core/modules/block_content/src/Tests/Update/BlockContentUpdateTest.php b/core/modules/block_content/src/Tests/Update/BlockContentUpdateTest.php
index 8c5bc0d..8ac9da9 100644
--- a/core/modules/block_content/src/Tests/Update/BlockContentUpdateTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/block_content/src/Tests/Update/BlockContentUpdateTest.php
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ class BlockContentUpdateTest extends UpdatePathTestBase {
   protected function setDatabaseDumpFiles() {
     $this->databaseDumpFiles = [
       __DIR__ . '/../../../../system/tests/fixtures/update/drupal-8-rc1.filled.standard.php.gz',
+      __DIR__ . '/../../../../system/tests/fixtures/update/drupal-8.block-content-publishing-status-upgrade.php',
     ];
   }
 
diff --git a/core/modules/system/tests/fixtures/update/drupal-8.block-content-publishing-status-upgrade.php b/core/modules/system/tests/fixtures/update/drupal-8.block-content-publishing-status-upgrade.php
index e69de29..e2e01d5 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/tests/fixtures/update/drupal-8.block-content-publishing-status-upgrade.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/tests/fixtures/update/drupal-8.block-content-publishing-status-upgrade.php
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * @file
+ * Partial database to populate data for the Block Content update test.
+ */
+
+use Drupal\Core\Database\Database;
+
+$connection = Database::getConnection();
+
+$spec = [
+  'type' => 'int',
+  'not null' => FALSE,
+];
+$connection->schema()->addField('block_content_field_revision', 'content_translation_status', $spec);
+$connection->schema()->addField('block_content_field_data', 'content_translation_status', $spec);