diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityPublishedTrait.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityPublishedTrait.php
index 2e9d4c2..05f4533 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityPublishedTrait.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityPublishedTrait.php
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 namespace Drupal\Core\Entity;
 
+use Drupal\Core\Entity\Exception\InvalidEntityTypeDefinitionException;
 use Drupal\Core\Field\BaseFieldDefinition;
 use Drupal\Core\StringTranslation\TranslatableMarkup;
 
@@ -17,11 +18,21 @@
    *   The entity type to add the publishing status field to.
    *
    * @return \Drupal\Core\Field\BaseFieldDefinition[]
-   *   Array of base field definitions.
+   *   An array of base field definitions.
+   *
+   * @throws \Drupal\Core\Entity\Exception\InvalidEntityTypeDefinitionException
+   *   Thrown when the entity type does not implement EntityPublishedInterface
+   *   or if it does not have a "published" entity key.
    */
   public static function publishedBaseFieldDefinitions(EntityTypeInterface $entity_type) {
-    $key = static::getPublishedEntityKey($entity_type);
-    return [$key => BaseFieldDefinition::create('boolean')
+    if (!is_subclass_of($entity_type->getClass(), EntityPublishedInterface::class)) {
+      throw new InvalidEntityTypeDefinitionException('The entity type ' . $entity_type->id() . ' does not implement \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityPublishedInterface.');
+    }
+    if (!$entity_type->hasKey('published')) {
+      throw new InvalidEntityTypeDefinitionException('The entity type ' . $entity_type->id() . ' does not have a "published" entity key.');
+    }
+
+    return [$entity_type->getKey('published') => BaseFieldDefinition::create('boolean')
       ->setLabel(new TranslatableMarkup('Publishing status'))
       ->setDescription(new TranslatableMarkup('A boolean indicating the published state.'))
       ->setRevisionable(TRUE)
@@ -33,7 +44,7 @@ public static function publishedBaseFieldDefinitions(EntityTypeInterface $entity
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function isPublished() {
-    $key = static::getPublishedEntityKey($this->getEntityType());
+    $key = $this->getEntityType()->getKey('published');
     return (bool) $this->get($key)->value;
   }
 
@@ -64,7 +75,7 @@ public function setPublished($published) {
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function publish() {
-    $key = static::getPublishedEntityKey($this->getEntityType());
+    $key = $this->getEntityType()->getKey('published');
     $this->set($key, TRUE);
 
     return $this;
@@ -74,26 +85,10 @@ public function publish() {
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function unpublish() {
-    $key = static::getPublishedEntityKey($this->getEntityType());
+    $key = $this->getEntityType()->getKey('published');
     $this->set($key, FALSE);
 
     return $this;
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Used to determine which key is used to represent the published state.
-   *
-   * @param \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityTypeInterface $entity_type
-   *   The entity type to find the published key for.
-   *
-   * @return string
-   *   The configured entity type definition key for 'status', or defaults to
-   *   'status'.
-   *
-   * @see \Drupal\Core\Entity\Annotation\ContentEntityType
-   */
-  protected static function getPublishedEntityKey(EntityTypeInterface $entity_type) {
-    return $entity_type->getKey('status') ?: 'status';
-  }
-
 }
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Exception/InvalidEntityTypeDefinitionException.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Exception/InvalidEntityTypeDefinitionException.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad72a5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Exception/InvalidEntityTypeDefinitionException.php
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Drupal\Core\Entity\Exception;
+
+/**
+ * Defines an exception thrown when an entity type definition is invalid.
+ */
+class InvalidEntityTypeDefinitionException extends \Exception { }
diff --git a/core/modules/comment/comment.install b/core/modules/comment/comment.install
index 38958aa..895c039 100644
--- a/core/modules/comment/comment.install
+++ b/core/modules/comment/comment.install
@@ -194,5 +194,17 @@ function comment_update_8300() {
 }
 
 /**
+ * Set the 'published' entity key.
+ */
+function comment_update_8301() {
+  $definition_update_manager = \Drupal::entityDefinitionUpdateManager();
+  $entity_type = $definition_update_manager->getEntityType('comment');
+  $keys = $entity_type->getKeys();
+  $keys['published'] = 'status';
+  $entity_type->set('entity_keys', $keys);
+  $definition_update_manager->updateEntityType($entity_type);
+}
+
+/**
  * @} End of "addtogroup updates-8.3.x".
  */
diff --git a/core/modules/comment/src/CommentInterface.php b/core/modules/comment/src/CommentInterface.php
index a35b7ad..1f69e9a 100644
--- a/core/modules/comment/src/CommentInterface.php
+++ b/core/modules/comment/src/CommentInterface.php
@@ -193,18 +193,13 @@ public function getCreatedTime();
   public function setCreatedTime($created);
 
   /**
-   * Checks if the comment is published.
-   *
-   * @return bool
-   *   TRUE if the comment is published.
-   */
-  public function isPublished();
-
-  /**
    * Returns the comment's status.
    *
    * @return int
    *   One of CommentInterface::PUBLISHED or CommentInterface::NOT_PUBLISHED
+   *
+   * @deprecated in Drupal 8.3.0, will be removed before Drupal 9.0.0. Use
+   *   \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityPublishedInterface::isPublished() instead.
    */
   public function getStatus();
 
diff --git a/core/modules/comment/src/Entity/Comment.php b/core/modules/comment/src/Entity/Comment.php
index d37da4a..df15cc0 100644
--- a/core/modules/comment/src/Entity/Comment.php
+++ b/core/modules/comment/src/Entity/Comment.php
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@
  *     "bundle" = "comment_type",
  *     "label" = "subject",
  *     "langcode" = "langcode",
- *     "uuid" = "uuid"
+ *     "uuid" = "uuid",
+ *     "published" = "status",
  *   },
  *   links = {
  *     "canonical" = "/comment/{comment}",
diff --git a/core/modules/node/node.install b/core/modules/node/node.install
index 720a7e0..2751b2c 100644
--- a/core/modules/node/node.install
+++ b/core/modules/node/node.install
@@ -222,6 +222,11 @@ function node_update_8003() {
 }
 
 /**
+ * @addtogroup updates-8.3.x
+ * @{
+ */
+
+/**
  * Change {node_access}.fallback from an int to a tinyint as it is a boolean.
  */
 function node_update_8300() {
@@ -234,3 +239,19 @@ function node_update_8300() {
     'size' => 'tiny',
   ]);
 }
+
+/**
+ * Set the 'published' entity key.
+ */
+function node_update_8301() {
+  $definition_update_manager = \Drupal::entityDefinitionUpdateManager();
+  $entity_type = $definition_update_manager->getEntityType('node');
+  $keys = $entity_type->getKeys();
+  $keys['published'] = 'status';
+  $entity_type->set('entity_keys', $keys);
+  $definition_update_manager->updateEntityType($entity_type);
+}
+
+/**
+ * @} End of "addtogroup updates-8.3.x".
+ */
diff --git a/core/modules/node/src/Entity/Node.php b/core/modules/node/src/Entity/Node.php
index d4e4715..f034957 100644
--- a/core/modules/node/src/Entity/Node.php
+++ b/core/modules/node/src/Entity/Node.php
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
  *     "langcode" = "langcode",
  *     "uuid" = "uuid",
  *     "status" = "status",
+ *     "published" = "status",
  *     "uid" = "uid",
  *   },
  *   bundle_entity_type = "node_type",