diff --git a/modules/edocument_peppol/edocument.py b/modules/edocument_peppol/edocument.py
index e35b9ac226..a0c8c93f4d 100644
--- a/modules/edocument_peppol/edocument.py
+++ b/modules/edocument_peppol/edocument.py
@@ -207,6 +207,8 @@ class Peppol(Workflow, ModelSQL, ModelView):
     @Workflow.transition('processing')
     def process(cls, documents):
         cls.lock(documents)
+        # write state before calling _process
+        cls.write(documents, {'state': 'processing'})
         for document in documents:
             if document.direction == 'out':
                 cls.__queue__._process(document)