diff --git a/app/controllers/spree/admin/variants_controller.rb b/app/controllers/spree/admin/variants_controller.rb
index 5f5e113355..6033db7afe 100644
--- a/app/controllers/spree/admin/variants_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/spree/admin/variants_controller.rb
@@ -15,11 +15,11 @@ module Spree
 
       def new
         @url_filters = ::ProductFilters.new.extract(request.query_parameters)
+        @object.shipping_category ||= DefaultShippingCategory.find_or_create
       end
 
       def edit
         @url_filters = ::ProductFilters.new.extract(request.query_parameters)
-        @object.shipping_category = DefaultShippingCategory.find_or_create
       end
 
       def create