diff --git a/lib/features/modeling/behavior/DataOutputAssociationBehavior.js b/lib/features/modeling/behavior/DataOutputAssociationBehavior.js
index 53f9b60a1c..8b477dd4d7 100644
--- a/lib/features/modeling/behavior/DataOutputAssociationBehavior.js
+++ b/lib/features/modeling/behavior/DataOutputAssociationBehavior.js
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ export default function DataOutputAssociationBehavior(eventBus, bpmnFactory) {
   function createDataOutput(element) {
     var ioSpecification = element.get('ioSpecification');
 
-    var outputSet;
+    var inputSet, outputSet;
 
     if (!ioSpecification) {
       ioSpecification = bpmnFactory.create('bpmn:InputOutputSpecification', {
@@ -67,6 +67,15 @@ export default function DataOutputAssociationBehavior(eventBus, bpmnFactory) {
 
       element.ioSpecification = ioSpecification;
 
+      inputSet = bpmnFactory.create('bpmn:InputSet', {
+        dataInputRefs: [],
+        name: 'Inputs'
+      });
+
+      inputSet.$parent = ioSpecification;
+
+      collectionAdd(ioSpecification.get('inputSets'), inputSet);
+
       outputSet = bpmnFactory.create('bpmn:OutputSet', {
         dataOutputRefs: [],
         name: 'Outputs'
@@ -245,34 +254,10 @@ function cleanUpIoSpecification(element) {
       delete ioSpecification.dataOutputs;
     }
 
-    if (inputSets && inputSets.length) {
-      forEach(inputSets, function(inputSet) {
-        if (!inputSet.dataInputRefs.length) {
-          collectionRemove(inputSets, inputSet);
-        }
-      });
-
-      if (!inputSets.length) {
-        delete ioSpecification.inputSets;
-      }
-    }
-
-    if (outputSets && outputSets.length) {
-      forEach(outputSets, function(outputSet) {
-        if (!outputSet.dataOutputRefs.length) {
-          collectionRemove(outputSets, outputSet);
-        }
-      });
-
-      if (!outputSets.length) {
-        delete ioSpecification.outputSets;
-      }
-    }
-
     if ((!dataInputs || !dataInputs.length) &&
         (!dataOutputs || !dataOutputs.length) &&
-        (!inputSets || !inputSets.length) &&
-        (!outputSets || !outputSets.length)) {
+        !inputSets[0].dataInputRefs.length &&
+        !outputSets[0].dataOutputRefs.length) {
 
       delete element.ioSpecification;
     }
diff --git a/test/spec/features/modeling/behavior/DataOutputAssociationBehaviorSpec.js b/test/spec/features/modeling/behavior/DataOutputAssociationBehaviorSpec.js
index 85b99abeaf..8fc1f0a87f 100644
--- a/test/spec/features/modeling/behavior/DataOutputAssociationBehaviorSpec.js
+++ b/test/spec/features/modeling/behavior/DataOutputAssociationBehaviorSpec.js
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ describe('modeling/behavior - DataOutputAssociationBehavior', function() {
     var dataOutputAssociationBo = dataOutputAssociation.businessObject;
 
     expect(taskBo.ioSpecification).to.exist;
+    expect(taskBo.ioSpecification.inputSets).to.exist;
+    expect(taskBo.ioSpecification.inputSets).to.have.length(1);
+    expect(taskBo.ioSpecification.outputSets).to.exist;
+    expect(taskBo.ioSpecification.outputSets).to.have.length(1);
+
     expect(dataOutputAssociationBo.get('sourceRef')[0]).to.exist;
     expect(dataOutputAssociationBo.get('sourceRef')[0]).to.eql(getDataOutput(taskBo, dataOutputAssociationBo.get('sourceRef')[0]));
   }));