An improved system and method for applying once a transaction delivered in a message published asynchronously in a distributed database is provided. In various embodiments, apply once messaging may be achieved for asynchronous publication by having a persistent log stored on a messaging server. A messaging server may receive an update message for a transaction to be published asynchronously in a distributed database, may generate a sequence number for the transaction in a message, and may log the update message with the sequence number in a log file persistently stored on the messaging server. The messaging server may then send an acknowledgement that the update message is published and may asynchronously publish the update message with the sequence number to subscribers. The publication may only succeed if there may not be any message tagged with a sequence number that has been previously published by the messaging server.