diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7b37592..61721f3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@
 composer.lock
 .phpunit.result.cache
 .php-cs-fixer.cache
+.idea/
diff --git a/src/VirtualColumn.php b/src/VirtualColumn.php
index e3cfec6..4dfaa2b 100644
--- a/src/VirtualColumn.php
+++ b/src/VirtualColumn.php
@@ -31,9 +31,11 @@ trait VirtualColumn
      */
     public bool $dataEncoded = false;
 
+    public bool $dataNotLoaded = false;
+
     protected function decodeVirtualColumn(): void
     {
-        if (! $this->dataEncoded) {
+        if (! $this->dataEncoded || ! $this->dataNotLoaded) {
             return;
         }
 
@@ -65,6 +67,10 @@ protected function encodeAttributes(): void
             return;
         }
 
+        if ($this->dataNotLoaded) {
+            throw new \Exception('Data column was not loaded from the database. Make sure the data column is selected in the query.');
+        }
+
         $dataColumn = static::getDataColumn();
         $customColumns = static::getCustomColumns();
         $attributes = array_filter($this->getAttributes(), fn ($key) => ! in_array($key, $customColumns), ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY);
@@ -107,7 +113,14 @@ protected function getAfterListeners(): array
         return [
             'retrieved' => [
                 function () {
-                    // Always decode after model retrieval
+                    // If the data column wasn't retrieved, don't decode it
+                    if (($this->attributes[static::getDataColumn()] ?? null) === null) {
+                        $this->dataNotLoaded = true;
+
+                        return;
+                    }
+
+                    // Mark the data as encoded so that it doesn't get encoded again
                     $this->dataEncoded = true;
 
                     $this->decodeVirtualColumn();
diff --git a/tests/VirtualColumnTest.php b/tests/VirtualColumnTest.php
index bb33458..9089a4b 100644
--- a/tests/VirtualColumnTest.php
+++ b/tests/VirtualColumnTest.php
@@ -128,6 +128,34 @@ public function models_extending_a_parent_model_using_virtualcolumn_get_encoded_
         $this->assertSame($encodedBar->bar, 'bar');
     }
 
+    /** @test */
+    public function model_doesnt_overwrite_when_selectively_fetching() {
+        $this->expectExceptionMessage('Data column was not loaded from the database. Make sure the data column is selected in the query.');
+
+        FooModel::create([
+            'id' => 1,
+            'foo' => 'bar'
+        ]);
+
+        $foo = FooModel::query()->first(['id']);
+        $foo->bar = 'baz';
+        $foo->save();
+    }
+
+    /** @test */
+    public function decoding_works_with_strict_mode_enabled() {
+        FooModel::shouldBeStrict();
+
+        FooModel::create([
+            'id' => 1,
+            'foo' => 'bar'
+        ]);
+
+        $id = FooModel::query()->pluck('id')->first();
+
+        $this->assertSame(1, $id);
+    }
+
     // maybe add an explicit test that the saving() and updating() listeners don't run twice?
 
     /** @test */