So a page action occurs when a page is requested, a @Factory lazy initialises the datamodel. In the @Factory case case the datamodel is requested (by the facelet), doesn't exist so instantiated by Seam (using @Factory) and used (without becoming detached). In the page action case the datamodel is instatiated by Seam when the page is requested, becomes detached, and is then requested by the page (and as an associated object is requested...) The page action case should work with an Extended persistence context, but, my advice is to always use Seam Managed Persistence Contexts as they work in more situations and have no downsides (I have seen at least). View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=3991901#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...