diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Build.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Build.scala
index 6fd43bda0..b5f41a342 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Build.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Build.scala
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ object Build {
     autoGeneratedProject := true
   )
   def defaultAggregatedProject(id: String, base: File, agg: Seq[ProjectRef]): Project =
-    defaultProject(id, base).aggregate(agg: _*)
+    defaultProject(id, base).aggregate(agg: _*).settings(Keys.publishArtifact := false)
 
   @deprecated("Use Attributed.data", "0.13.0")
   def data[T](in: Seq[Attributed[T]]): Seq[T] = Attributed.data(in)