diff --git a/app/commands/v2/unpublish.rb b/app/commands/v2/unpublish.rb
index f0947692c..7cfb7414c 100644
--- a/app/commands/v2/unpublish.rb
+++ b/app/commands/v2/unpublish.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ module V2
     class Unpublish < BaseCommand
       def call
         validate
-        previous_item.update_attributes!(state: 'superseded') if previous_item
+        previous_item.supersede if previous_item
         transition_state
 
         after_transaction_commit do
diff --git a/spec/commands/v2/unpublish_spec.rb b/spec/commands/v2/unpublish_spec.rb
index 785b66ae1..b98081968 100644
--- a/spec/commands/v2/unpublish_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/commands/v2/unpublish_spec.rb
@@ -261,15 +261,18 @@
 
           context "when the system is in an inconsistent state" do
             let!(:published_item) do
-              FactoryGirl.create(:live_content_item,
+              FactoryGirl.create(:superseded_content_item,
                 content_id: content_id,
                 base_path: "/different",
                 user_facing_version: 2,
-                state: "superseded",
               )
             end
             before do
-              published_item.update_columns(state: "published", base_path: base_path)
+              published_item.update_columns(
+                state: "published",
+                content_store: "live",
+                base_path: base_path
+              )
             end
 
             it "raises an error stating the inconsistency" do