diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 775acb2..7e60d75 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # Changelog
 
 ## Unreleased
+- Changed `UPDATE` statements from DMS not to write the entire `data`
+  column. This allows defining primary keys on the sink table.
 
 ## 2024/08/16 v0.0.5
 - Changed `UPDATE` statements from DynamoDB not to write the entire `data`
diff --git a/src/commons_codec/transform/aws_dms.py b/src/commons_codec/transform/aws_dms.py
index 05d63f0..97d55a9 100644
--- a/src/commons_codec/transform/aws_dms.py
+++ b/src/commons_codec/transform/aws_dms.py
@@ -79,9 +79,9 @@ def to_sql(self) -> str:
             sql = f"INSERT INTO {self.address.fqn} ({self.DATA_COLUMN}) VALUES ('{values_clause}');"
 
         elif self.operation == "update":
-            values_clause = self.record_to_values()
+            values_clause = self.record_to_update()
             where_clause = self.keys_to_where()
-            sql = f"UPDATE {self.address.fqn} SET {self.DATA_COLUMN} = '{values_clause}' WHERE {where_clause};"
+            sql = f"UPDATE {self.address.fqn} SET {values_clause} WHERE {where_clause};"
 
         elif self.operation == "delete":
             where_clause = self.keys_to_where()
@@ -94,6 +94,28 @@ def to_sql(self) -> str:
 
         return sql
 
+    def record_to_update(self) -> str:
+        """
+        Serializes an image to a comma-separated list of column/values pairs
+        that can be used in the `SET` clause of an `UPDATE` statement.
+        Primary key columns are skipped, since they cannot be updated.
+
+        IN
+        {'age': 33, 'attributes': '{"foo": "bar"}', 'id': 42, 'name': 'John'}
+
+        OUT
+        data['age'] = '33', data['attributes'] = '{"foo": "bar"}', data['name'] = 'John'
+        """
+        constraints: t.List[str] = []
+        for column_name, column_value in self.record["data"].items():
+            # Skip primary key columns, they cannot be updated
+            if column_name in self.primary_keys:
+                continue
+
+            constraint = f"{self.DATA_COLUMN}['{column_name}'] = '{column_value}'"
+            constraints.append(constraint)
+        return ", ".join(constraints)
+
     def record_to_values(self) -> str:
         """
         Apply type translations to record, and serialize to JSON.
diff --git a/tests/transform/test_aws_dms.py b/tests/transform/test_aws_dms.py
index ddf825e..cdec25c 100644
--- a/tests/transform/test_aws_dms.py
+++ b/tests/transform/test_aws_dms.py
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ def test_decode_cdc_update_success(cdc):
     # Emulate an UPDATE operation.
     assert (
         cdc.to_sql(MSG_DATA_UPDATE_VALUE) == 'UPDATE "public"."foo" '
-        f"SET data = '{json.dumps(RECORD_UPDATE)}' "
+        "SET data['age'] = '33', data['attributes'] = '{\"foo\": \"bar\"}', data['name'] = 'John' "
         "WHERE data['id'] = '42';"
     )