diff --git a/main/src/com/google/refine/operations/recon/ReconJudgeSimilarCellsOperation.java b/main/src/com/google/refine/operations/recon/ReconJudgeSimilarCellsOperation.java
index 92329a89a..b5d02bb50 100644
--- a/main/src/com/google/refine/operations/recon/ReconJudgeSimilarCellsOperation.java
+++ b/main/src/com/google/refine/operations/recon/ReconJudgeSimilarCellsOperation.java
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ import com.google.refine.model.ReconCandidate;
 import com.google.refine.model.Row;
 import com.google.refine.model.changes.CellChange;
 import com.google.refine.model.changes.ReconChange;
+import com.google.refine.model.recon.ReconConfig;
 import com.google.refine.operations.EngineDependentMassCellOperation;
 import com.google.refine.operations.OperationRegistry;
 
@@ -185,7 +186,8 @@ public class ReconJudgeSimilarCellsOperation extends EngineDependentMassCellOper
     @Override
     protected RowVisitor createRowVisitor(Project project, List<CellChange> cellChanges, long historyEntryID) throws Exception {
         Column column = project.columnModel.getColumnByName(_columnName);
-        
+        ReconConfig reconConfig = column.getReconConfig();
+
         return new RowVisitor() {
             int                 _cellIndex;
             List<CellChange>    _cellChanges;
@@ -221,7 +223,15 @@ public class ReconJudgeSimilarCellsOperation extends EngineDependentMassCellOper
                         Recon recon = null;
                         if (_judgment == Judgment.New && _shareNewTopics) {
                             if (_sharedNewRecon == null) {
-                                _sharedNewRecon = new Recon(_historyEntryID, null, null);
+                                if (reconConfig != null) {
+                                    _sharedNewRecon = reconConfig.createNewRecon(_historyEntryID);
+                                } else {
+                                    // This should only happen if we are creating new cells
+                                    // in a column that has not been reconciled before.
+                                    // In that case, we do not know which reconciliation service
+                                    // to use, so we fall back on the default one.
+                                    _sharedNewRecon = new Recon(_historyEntryID, null, null);
+                                }
                                 _sharedNewRecon.judgment = Judgment.New;
                                 _sharedNewRecon.judgmentBatchSize = 0;
                                 _sharedNewRecon.judgmentAction = "similar";
diff --git a/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/operations/cell/ReconJudgeSimilarCellsTests.java b/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/operations/cell/ReconJudgeSimilarCellsTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..043ea3bf1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/operations/cell/ReconJudgeSimilarCellsTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+package com.google.refine.tests.operations.cell;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
+
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Properties;
+
+import org.json.JSONObject;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+import org.testng.annotations.BeforeTest;
+import org.testng.annotations.Test;
+
+import com.google.refine.model.AbstractOperation;
+import com.google.refine.model.Cell;
+import com.google.refine.model.Column;
+import com.google.refine.model.Project;
+import com.google.refine.model.Recon;
+import com.google.refine.model.recon.ReconConfig;
+import com.google.refine.model.recon.StandardReconConfig;
+import com.google.refine.operations.recon.ReconJudgeSimilarCellsOperation;
+import com.google.refine.process.Process;
+import com.google.refine.tests.RefineTest;
+
+public class ReconJudgeSimilarCellsTests extends RefineTest {
+    
+    static final JSONObject ENGINE_CONFIG = new JSONObject("{\"mode\":\"row-based\"}}");
+    
+    @Override
+    @BeforeTest
+    public void init() {
+        logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(this.getClass());
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void testMarkNewTopics() throws Exception {
+        Project project = createCSVProject(
+                "A,B\n"
+              + "foo,bar\n"
+              + "alpha,beta\n");
+        
+        Column column = project.columnModel.columns.get(0);
+        ReconConfig config = new StandardReconConfig(
+                "http://my.database/recon_service",
+                "http://my.database/entity/",
+                "http://my.database/schema/",
+                null,
+                null,
+                true, Collections.emptyList());
+        column.setReconConfig(config);
+
+        AbstractOperation op = new ReconJudgeSimilarCellsOperation(
+            ENGINE_CONFIG,
+            "A",
+            "foo",
+            Recon.Judgment.New,
+            null, true);
+        Process process = op.createProcess(project, new Properties());
+        process.performImmediate();
+        
+        Cell cell = project.rows.get(0).cells.get(0);
+        assertEquals(Recon.Judgment.New, cell.recon.judgment);
+        assertEquals("http://my.database/entity/", cell.recon.identifierSpace);
+        assertNull(project.rows.get(1).cells.get(0).recon);
+    }
+}