diff --git a/src/backend/replication/pgoutput/pgoutput.c b/src/backend/replication/pgoutput/pgoutput.c
index d59a8f5032..17aeb80637 100644
--- a/src/backend/replication/pgoutput/pgoutput.c
+++ b/src/backend/replication/pgoutput/pgoutput.c
@@ -1081,7 +1081,7 @@ pgoutput_column_list_init(PGOutputData *data, List *publications,
 					int			i;
 					int			nliveatts = 0;
 					TupleDesc	desc = RelationGetDescr(relation);
-					bool		gencolpresent = false;
+					bool		att_gen_present = false;
 
 					pgoutput_ensure_entry_cxt(data, entry);
 
@@ -1098,20 +1098,19 @@ pgoutput_column_list_init(PGOutputData *data, List *publications,
 
 						if (att->attgenerated)
 						{
-							if (bms_is_member(att->attnum, cols))
-								gencolpresent = true;
-
-							continue;
+							att_gen_present = true;
+							break;
 						}
 
 						nliveatts++;
 					}
 
 					/*
-					 * If column list includes all the columns of the table
-					 * and there are no generated columns, set it to NULL.
+					 * Generated attributes are published only when they are
+					 * present in the column list. Otherwise, a NULL column
+					 * list means publish all columns.
 					 */
-					if (bms_num_members(cols) == nliveatts && !gencolpresent)
+					if (!att_gen_present && bms_num_members(cols) == nliveatts)
 					{
 						bms_free(cols);
 						cols = NULL;