diff --git a/lib/controller.js b/lib/controller.js
index 87601c5e..b4ce7875 100644
--- a/lib/controller.js
+++ b/lib/controller.js
@@ -246,6 +246,10 @@ class Controller {
             return;
         }
 
+        if (entity.type === 'device' && settings.get().advanced.last_seen !== 'disable' && entity.device.lastSeen) {
+            payload.last_seen = utils.formatDate(entity.device.lastSeen, settings.get().advanced.last_seen);
+        }
+
         let messagePayload = {...payload};
         const currentState = this.state.exists(entity.settings.ID) ? this.state.get(entity.settings.ID) : {};
         const newState = objectAssignDeep.noMutate(currentState, payload);
@@ -274,10 +278,6 @@ class Controller {
             attributes.forEach((a) => messagePayload.device[a] = device[a]);
         }
 
-        if (entity.type === 'device' && settings.get().advanced.last_seen !== 'disable') {
-            messagePayload.last_seen = utils.formatDate(entity.device.lastSeen, settings.get().advanced.last_seen);
-        }
-
         if (Object.entries(messagePayload).length) {
             if (settings.get().experimental.output === 'json') {
                 await this.mqtt.publish(entity.name, JSON.stringify(messagePayload), options);