3 files changed, 12 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/activerecord/CHANGELOG.md b/activerecord/CHANGELOG.md
index 6cc667b754..41e05dd8c1 100644
--- a/activerecord/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/activerecord/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+*   Return `true` from `update_attribute` when the value of the attribute
+    to be updated is unchanged.
+
+    Fixes #26593.
+
+    *Prathamesh Sonpatki*
+
 *   Always store errors details information with symbols.
 
     When the association is autosaved we were storing the details with
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/persistence.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/persistence.rb
index 978fb27cab..65248f3a32 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/persistence.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/persistence.rb
@@ -252,7 +252,8 @@ module ActiveRecord
       name = name.to_s
       verify_readonly_attribute(name)
       public_send("#{name}=", value)
-      save(validate: false) if changed?
+
+      changed? ? save(validate: false) : true
     end
 
     # Updates the attributes of the model from the passed-in hash and saves the
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/persistence_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/persistence_test.rb
index d83360e327..688c3ed2b1 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/persistence_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/persistence_test.rb
@@ -391,14 +391,14 @@ class PersistenceTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
     end
     topic = klass.create(title: "Another New Topic")
     assert_queries(0) do
-      topic.update_attribute(:title, "Another New Topic")
+      assert topic.update_attribute(:title, "Another New Topic")
     end
   end
 
   def test_update_does_not_run_sql_if_record_has_not_changed
     topic = Topic.create(title: "Another New Topic")
-    assert_queries(0) { topic.update(title: "Another New Topic") }
-    assert_queries(0) { topic.update_attributes(title: "Another New Topic") }
+    assert_queries(0) { assert topic.update(title: "Another New Topic") }
+    assert_queries(0) { assert topic.update_attributes(title: "Another New Topic") }
   end
 
   def test_delete