How can I use use Entity Framework to do a MERGE when I don’t know if the record exists?

Question

I use AddOrUpdate in this situation. However, I believe it does query the database first in order to decide to issue an insert or update.

context.MyEntities.AddOrUpdate(e => e.Id, entity);

Update:

I ran through my debug log files. First it runs:

SELECT TOP (2) ... WHERE 1 = [Extent1].[Id]

Then it runs either:

INSERT [dbo].[TestTable](...) VALUES (...)
SELECT [Id]
FROM [dbo].[TestTable]
WHERE @@ROWCOUNT > 0 AND [Id] = scope_identity()

OR:

UPDATE [dbo].[TestTable]
SET ...
WHERE ([Id] = @2)

Update 2:
Here’s an interesting extension method the uses MERGE:
https://gist.github.com/ondravondra/4001192