diff --git a/src/app/commands/count.rs b/src/app/commands/count.rs
index 969872861..2dd406536 100644
--- a/src/app/commands/count.rs
+++ b/src/app/commands/count.rs
@@ -546,6 +546,12 @@ impl OpenCADStudio {
     /// its attributes and the texts of its block definition; a table, the
     /// cell texts of its drawing (its `*T` block).
     fn update_fields(&mut self, i: usize, handles: &[Handle]) {
+        // Every run is an undo step, as in the reference, even with nothing
+        // selected, no field found or no value changed.
+        self.push_undo_mark(i, "UPDATEFIELD");
+        if handles.is_empty() {
+            return;
+        }
         let doc = &self.tabs[i].scene.document;
         let mut hosts = handles.to_vec();
         for h in handles {
@@ -572,25 +578,25 @@ impl OpenCADStudio {
             })
             .flatten()
             .collect();
-        let found = hosts
-            .iter()
-            .filter(|h| match doc.get_entity(**h) {
-                Some(entity) => crate::entities::field::hosts_field(doc, entity),
-                None => attributes.iter().any(|common| {
-                    common.handle == **h && crate::entities::field::common_hosts_field(doc, common)
-                }),
-            })
-            .count();
-        self.command_line.push_output(&crate::tf!("{found} field(s) found."));
-        if found == 0 {
+        let hosting = hosts.iter().any(|h| match doc.get_entity(*h) {
+            Some(entity) => crate::entities::field::hosts_field(doc, entity),
+            None => attributes
+                .iter()
+                .any(|common| common.handle == *h && crate::entities::field::common_hosts_field(doc, common)),
+        });
+        if !hosting {
+            self.command_line.push_output(&crate::tf!("{found} field(s) found.", found = 0));
+            self.command_line.push_output(&crate::tf!("{updated} field(s) updated.", updated = 0));
             return;
         }
-        self.push_undo_snapshot(i, "UPDATEFIELD");
-        let updated = self.tabs[i].scene.update_fields(32, Some(&hosts));
-        if updated > 0 {
+        // The reference counts fields, not the texts holding them, and
+        // reports every field it evaluated as updated, changed or not.
+        let (changed, found) = self.tabs[i].scene.update_fields(32, Some(&hosts));
+        if changed > 0 {
             self.tabs[i].dirty = true;
         }
-        self.command_line.push_output(&crate::tf!("{updated} field(s) updated."));
+        self.command_line.push_output(&crate::tf!("{found} field(s) found."));
+        self.command_line.push_output(&crate::tf!("{updated} field(s) updated.", updated = found));
     }
 
     /// A count table at `point`: `Item` | `Count`, one row per block (all
diff --git a/src/app/document.rs b/src/app/document.rs
index bc47e8ea0..f9bef2bbb 100644
--- a/src/app/document.rs
+++ b/src/app/document.rs
@@ -901,4 +901,6 @@ pub(super) struct PendingHistorySnapshot {
     pub(super) dirty_before: bool,
     pub(super) structure_before: CadDocument,
     pub(super) recorder: Arc<codec::document::EntityChangeRecorder>,
+    /// Kept as an undo step even when nothing changed.
+    pub(super) keep_empty: bool,
 }
diff --git a/src/app/history.rs b/src/app/history.rs
index ef97360a3..ffe243c3c 100644
--- a/src/app/history.rs
+++ b/src/app/history.rs
@@ -313,7 +313,8 @@ impl OpenCADStudio {
         let selected_after: Vec<Handle> = self.tabs[i].scene.selected.iter().copied().collect();
         let dirty_after = self.tabs[i].dirty;
         let active_layer_after = self.tabs[i].active_layer.clone();
-        if entities.is_empty()
+        if !pending.keep_empty
+            && entities.is_empty()
             && !structure_changed
             && pending.selected_before == selected_after
             && pending.dirty_before == dirty_after
@@ -365,9 +366,19 @@ impl OpenCADStudio {
             dirty_before,
             structure_before,
             recorder,
+            keep_empty: false,
         });
     }
 
+    /// [`Self::push_undo_snapshot`] for a command that is an undo step even
+    /// when it changes nothing (UNDO and U then name it and undo nothing).
+    pub(super) fn push_undo_mark(&mut self, i: usize, label: impl Into<String>) {
+        self.push_undo_snapshot(i, label);
+        if let Some(pending) = self.tabs[i].history.pending.as_mut() {
+            pending.keep_empty = true;
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Begin undo capture for an entity edit that will touch `touched` entities.
     /// Starts a cheap Scene delta recording and returns the pre-command state to
     /// pass to [`OpenCADStudio::commit_undo_delta`] after the mutation. A command
diff --git a/src/modules/annotate/count_cmd.rs b/src/modules/annotate/count_cmd.rs
index 9ac6c3d3f..60833d8b2 100644
--- a/src/modules/annotate/count_cmd.rs
+++ b/src/modules/annotate/count_cmd.rs
@@ -434,9 +434,7 @@ impl CadCommand for UpdateFieldCommand {
     }
 
     fn on_enter(&mut self) -> CmdResult {
-        if self.selected.is_empty() {
-            return CmdResult::Cancel;
-        }
+        // An empty selection still runs (the reference keeps an undo step).
         let handles: Vec<String> = self.selected.iter().map(|h| format!("{:X}", h.value())).collect();
         CmdResult::Dispatch(format!("_UPDATEFIELDRUN {}", handles.join(",")))
     }
diff --git a/src/scene/mod.rs b/src/scene/mod.rs
index 8669fd033..7cb4e6cb4 100644
--- a/src/scene/mod.rs
+++ b/src/scene/mod.rs
@@ -3419,13 +3419,14 @@ impl Scene {
 
     /// Update the fields an evaluation event re-evaluates (see
     /// [`crate::entities::field::update_fields`]) and redraw the hosts whose
-    /// text changed. Returns the number of fields the hosts hold.
-    pub fn update_fields(&mut self, event: i32, hosts: Option<&[Handle]>) -> usize {
-        let changed = crate::entities::field::update_fields(&mut self.document, event, hosts).0;
+    /// text changed. Returns the number of hosts whose text changed and the
+    /// number of fields the hosts hold.
+    pub fn update_fields(&mut self, event: i32, hosts: Option<&[Handle]>) -> (usize, usize) {
+        let (changed, found) = crate::entities::field::update_fields(&mut self.document, event, hosts);
         if !changed.is_empty() {
             self.bump_text_hosts(&changed);
         }
-        changed.len()
+        (changed.len(), found)
     }
 
     /// Redraw text hosts whose stored text changed (re-evaluated fields). An