diff --git a/lib-sql/functions/placex_triggers.sql b/lib-sql/functions/placex_triggers.sql
index 19764ed9..4e27058c 100644
--- a/lib-sql/functions/placex_triggers.sql
+++ b/lib-sql/functions/placex_triggers.sql
@@ -731,6 +731,10 @@ BEGIN
 
   END IF;
 
+  IF NEW.importance IS NULL THEN
+    NEW.importance := 0.40001 - (NEW.rank_search::float / 75);
+  END IF;
+
   {% if debug %}RAISE WARNING 'placex_insert:END: % % % %',NEW.osm_type,NEW.osm_id,NEW.class,NEW.type;{% endif %}
 
 {% if not disable_diff_updates %}
@@ -1076,10 +1080,8 @@ BEGIN
       {% if debug %}RAISE WARNING 'Waterway processed';{% endif %}
   END IF;
 
-  NEW.importance := null;
-  SELECT wikipedia, importance
-    FROM compute_importance(NEW.extratags, NEW.country_code, NEW.rank_search, NEW.centroid)
-    INTO NEW.wikipedia,NEW.importance;
+  SELECT wikipedia, importance INTO NEW.wikipedia, NEW.importance
+    FROM compute_importance(NEW.extratags, NEW.country_code, NEW.rank_search, NEW.centroid);
 
 {% if debug %}RAISE WARNING 'Importance computed from wikipedia: %', NEW.importance;{% endif %}
 
diff --git a/lib-sql/tables/placex.sql b/lib-sql/tables/placex.sql
index 590f734e..db604f4e 100644
--- a/lib-sql/tables/placex.sql
+++ b/lib-sql/tables/placex.sql
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ CREATE TABLE placex (
   place_id BIGINT NOT NULL,
   parent_place_id BIGINT,
   linked_place_id BIGINT,
-  importance FLOAT,
+  importance FLOAT NOT NULL,
   indexed_date TIMESTAMP,
   geometry_sector INTEGER NOT NULL,
   rank_address SMALLINT NOT NULL,
diff --git a/test/python/conftest.py b/test/python/conftest.py
index fbfda1de..2149cb9d 100644
--- a/test/python/conftest.py
+++ b/test/python/conftest.py
@@ -293,13 +293,14 @@ def placex_row(placex_table, temp_db_cursor):
     def _add(osm_type='N', osm_id=None, cls='amenity', typ='cafe', names=None,
              admin_level=None, address=None, extratags=None, geom='POINT(10 4)',
              country=None, housenumber=None, rank_search=30, rank_address=30,
-             centroid='POINT(10 4)', indexed_status=0, indexed_date=None):
+             centroid='POINT(10 4)', indexed_status=0, indexed_date=None,
+             importance=0.00001):
         args = {'place_id': pysql.SQL("nextval('seq_place')"),
                 'osm_type': osm_type, 'osm_id': osm_id or next(idseq),
                 'class': cls, 'type': typ, 'name': names, 'admin_level': admin_level,
                 'address': address, 'housenumber': housenumber,
                 'rank_search': rank_search, 'rank_address': rank_address,
-                'extratags': extratags,
+                'extratags': extratags, 'importance': importance,
                 'centroid': _with_srid(centroid), 'geometry': _with_srid(geom),
                 'country_code': country,
                 'indexed_status': indexed_status, 'indexed_date': indexed_date,
diff --git a/test/python/tools/test_database_import.py b/test/python/tools/test_database_import.py
index 3e98b575..1d50df1c 100644
--- a/test/python/tools/test_database_import.py
+++ b/test/python/tools/test_database_import.py
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ async def test_load_data(dsn, place_row, place_interpolation_row, placex_table,
         BEGIN
           NEW.place_id := nextval('seq_place');
           NEW.indexed_status := 1;
+          NEW.importance := 0.00001;
           NEW.centroid := ST_Centroid(NEW.geometry);
           NEW.partition := 0;
           NEW.geometry_sector := 2424;