diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Build.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Build.scala
index b61e0fb03..6fd43bda0 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Build.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Build.scala
@@ -58,10 +58,7 @@ object Build {
     autoGeneratedProject := true
   )
   def defaultAggregatedProject(id: String, base: File, agg: Seq[ProjectRef]): Project =
-    defaultProject(id, base).aggregate(agg: _*).settings(
-      Keys.publish := (),
-      Keys.publishLocal := ()
-    )
+    defaultProject(id, base).aggregate(agg: _*)
 
   @deprecated("Use Attributed.data", "0.13.0")
   def data[T](in: Seq[Attributed[T]]): Seq[T] = Attributed.data(in)
diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Load.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Load.scala
index b9dad65e3..0936f0dab 100755
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Load.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Load.scala
@@ -585,7 +585,9 @@ object Load {
               val existingIds = otherProjects.projects map (_.id)
               val refs = existingIds map (id => ProjectRef(buildUri, id))
               val defaultID = autoID(buildBase, context, existingIds)
-              val root = finalizeProject(Build.defaultAggregatedProject(defaultID, buildBase, refs), files)
+              val root1 = Build.defaultAggregatedProject(defaultID, buildBase, refs)
+              val root2 = if (discovered.isEmpty) root1 else root1.settings(Keys.publish := (()), Keys.publishLocal := (()))
+              val root = finalizeProject(root2, files)
               val result = root +: (acc ++ otherProjects.projects)
               log.debug(s"[Loading] Done in ${buildBase}, returning: ${result.map(_.id).mkString("(", ", ", ")")}")
               LoadedProjects(result, generated ++ otherGenerated ++ generatedConfigClassFiles)
diff --git a/sbt/src/sbt-test/project/artificial-root-no-publish/changes/bare.sbt b/sbt/src/sbt-test/project/artificial-root-no-publish/changes/bare.sbt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..936367950
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sbt/src/sbt-test/project/artificial-root-no-publish/changes/bare.sbt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+organization := "com.example"
+version := "0.1.0"
+ivyPaths := new IvyPaths((baseDirectory in LocalRootProject).value, Some((target in LocalRootProject).value / "ivy-cache"))
diff --git a/sbt/src/sbt-test/project/artificial-root-no-publish/test b/sbt/src/sbt-test/project/artificial-root-no-publish/test
index 13d050bce..3dda7dfd7 100644
--- a/sbt/src/sbt-test/project/artificial-root-no-publish/test
+++ b/sbt/src/sbt-test/project/artificial-root-no-publish/test
@@ -2,3 +2,9 @@
 $ exists target/ivy-cache/local/com.example/app_2.10/0.1.0/poms/app_2.10.pom
 $ exists target/ivy-cache/local/com.example/app_2.10/0.1.0/jars/app_2.10.jar
 $ absent target/ivy-cache/local/com.example/default-root_2.10/0.1.0/ivys/ivy.xml
+
+$ copy-file changes/bare.sbt build.sbt
+> reload
+> publishLocal
+$ exists target/ivy-cache/local/com.example/artificial-root-no-publish_2.10/0.1.0/poms/artificial-root-no-publish_2.10.pom
+$ exists target/ivy-cache/local/com.example/artificial-root-no-publish_2.10/0.1.0/jars/artificial-root-no-publish_2.10.jar