diff --git a/.changeset/early-spies-grow.md b/.changeset/early-spies-grow.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3591b1398a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/early-spies-grow.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-catalog-backend': patch
+---
+
+Fixed a bug where the catalog would read back all entities when adding a location that already exists.
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/DatabaseEntitiesCatalog.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/DatabaseEntitiesCatalog.ts
index 7ba6897236..76fc63c9b3 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/DatabaseEntitiesCatalog.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/DatabaseEntitiesCatalog.ts
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ export class DatabaseEntitiesCatalog implements EntitiesCatalog {
         }
       }
 
-      if (options?.outputEntities) {
+      if (options?.outputEntities && responses.length > 0) {
         const writtenEntities = await this.database.entities(
           tx,
           EntityFilters.ofMatchers({
@@ -285,7 +285,8 @@ export class DatabaseEntitiesCatalog implements EntitiesCatalog {
         // instead and call a dedicated batch update database method
         toUpdate.push(request);
       } else {
-        toIgnore.push(request);
+        // Use the existing entity to ensure that we're able to read it back by uid if needed
+        toIgnore.push({ ...request, entity: oldEntity });
       }
     }