diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/pages.py b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/pages.py
index 9e540eae6..d7cc6da40 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/pages.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/pages.py
@@ -626,7 +626,7 @@ def copy(request, page_id):
 
         # Unpublish copied pages if we need to
         if not publish_copies:
-            new_page.get_descendants(inclusive=True).update(live=False)
+            new_page.get_descendants(inclusive=True).update(live=False, has_unpublished_changes=True)
 
         # Assign user of this request as the owner of all the new pages
         new_page.get_descendants(inclusive=True).update(owner=request.user)