diff --git a/framework/rest-api/src/main/java/org/apache/ofbiz/ws/rs/model/ModelApiReader.java b/framework/rest-api/src/main/java/org/apache/ofbiz/ws/rs/model/ModelApiReader.java
index a6aab6c294e..bec41a8739a 100644
--- a/framework/rest-api/src/main/java/org/apache/ofbiz/ws/rs/model/ModelApiReader.java
+++ b/framework/rest-api/src/main/java/org/apache/ofbiz/ws/rs/model/ModelApiReader.java
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public static ModelApi getModelApi(final File apiDef) {
         api.setName(UtilXml.checkEmpty(docElement.getAttribute("name")).intern());
         api.setDescription(UtilXml.checkEmpty(docElement.getAttribute("description")).intern());
         api.setPath(UtilXml.checkEmpty(docElement.getAttribute("path")).intern());
-        api.setPublish(Boolean.parseBoolean(UtilXml.checkEmpty(docElement.getAttribute("publish")).intern()));
+        api.setPublish(parseBooleanDefaultTrue(docElement.getAttribute("publish")));
         for (Element resourceEle : UtilXml.childElementList(docElement, "resource")) {
             createModelResource(resourceEle, api);
         }
@@ -107,8 +107,8 @@ private static ModelResource buildResource(Element resourceEle) {
                 .description(UtilXml.checkEmpty(resourceEle.getAttribute("description")).intern())
                 .displayName(UtilXml.checkEmpty(resourceEle.getAttribute("displayName")).intern())
                 .path(UtilXml.checkEmpty(resourceEle.getAttribute("path")).intern())
-                .publish(Boolean.parseBoolean(UtilXml.checkEmpty(resourceEle.getAttribute("publish")).intern()))
-                .auth(Boolean.parseBoolean(UtilXml.checkEmpty(resourceEle.getAttribute("auth")).intern()))
+                .publish(parseBooleanDefaultTrue(resourceEle.getAttribute("publish")))
+                .auth(parseBooleanDefaultTrue(resourceEle.getAttribute("auth")))
                 .primaryPermission(UtilXml.checkEmpty(resourceEle.getAttribute("primaryPermission")).intern())
                 .mainAction(UtilXml.checkEmpty(resourceEle.getAttribute("mainAction")).intern())
                 .customHeaders(UtilXml.checkEmpty(resourceEle.getAttribute("customHeaders")).intern());
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ private static void createOperations(Element resourceEle, ModelResource resource
                         .produces(UtilXml.checkEmpty(operationEle.getAttribute("produces")).intern())
                         .consumes(UtilXml.checkEmpty(operationEle.getAttribute("consumes")).intern())
                         .description(UtilXml.checkEmpty(operationEle.getAttribute("description")).intern())
-                        .auth(Boolean.parseBoolean(UtilXml.checkEmpty(operationEle.getAttribute("auth")).intern()))
+                        .auth(parseBooleanDefaultTrue(operationEle.getAttribute("auth")))
                         .primaryPermission(UtilXml.checkEmpty(operationEle.getAttribute("primaryPermission"),
                                 resourceEle.getAttribute("primaryPermission")).intern())
                         .mainAction(UtilXml.checkEmpty(operationEle.getAttribute("mainAction"),
@@ -144,6 +144,21 @@ private static void createOperations(Element resourceEle, ModelResource resource
     }
 
 
+    /**
+     * Parses an {@code xs:boolean}-typed attribute that {@code rest-api.xsd} declares with
+     * {@code default="true"} (currently {@code publish} and {@code auth}). DOM's
+     * {@code Element.getAttribute} returns {@code ""} for an attribute that is absent from the
+     * source XML, so the omitted case must be defaulted explicitly rather than handed to
+     * {@link Boolean#parseBoolean(String)}, which would otherwise resolve it to {@code false}.
+     *
+     * @param attributeValue the raw attribute value, or {@code ""} if the attribute was omitted
+     * @return {@code true} if the attribute was omitted or explicitly {@code "true"}; {@code false} otherwise
+     */
+    private static boolean parseBooleanDefaultTrue(String attributeValue) {
+        String value = UtilXml.checkEmpty(attributeValue).intern();
+        return value.isEmpty() || Boolean.parseBoolean(value);
+    }
+
     private static void createQueryParams(Element operationEle, ModelOperation operation) {
         for (Element queryParamEle : UtilXml.childElementList(operationEle, "queryParam")) {
             ModelQueryParam qp = new ModelQueryParam()
diff --git a/framework/rest-api/src/test/java/org/apache/ofbiz/ws/rs/model/ModelApiReaderTest.java b/framework/rest-api/src/test/java/org/apache/ofbiz/ws/rs/model/ModelApiReaderTest.java
index 5cb0f398dae..6d21ed7e6fb 100644
--- a/framework/rest-api/src/test/java/org/apache/ofbiz/ws/rs/model/ModelApiReaderTest.java
+++ b/framework/rest-api/src/test/java/org/apache/ofbiz/ws/rs/model/ModelApiReaderTest.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 package org.apache.ofbiz.ws.rs.model;
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
-import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 
@@ -67,15 +66,14 @@ void testGetModelApiParsesTopLevelAttributes() throws IOException {
     }
 
     @Test
-    void testGetModelApiMissingPublishAttributeDefaultsToFalse() throws IOException {
-        // No "publish" attribute at all -> UtilXml.checkEmpty(...) yields "",
-        // and Boolean.parseBoolean("") is false. This locks in that implicit
-        // default so a change in checkEmpty/parseBoolean behavior is caught.
+    void testGetModelApiMissingPublishAttributeDefaultsToTrue() throws IOException {
+        // No "publish" attribute at all -> rest-api.xsd declares this attribute
+        // default="true", so an omitted attribute must resolve to true.
         File file = writeXml("<api name=\"myApi\"/>");
 
         ModelApi api = ModelApiReader.getModelApi(file);
 
-        assertFalse(api.isPublish());
+        assertTrue(api.isPublish());
     }
 
     @Test