Since substantial revisions and excisions almost always occur during rehearsals, Meyerbeer requested the opera should not be given, if he died before it was produced. However, Minna Meyerbeer (his widow) and César-Victor Perrin (the director of the Opéra) appointed François-Joseph Fétis to edit the music for a performing version, and Mélesville to edit the libretto. Because the title "L'Africaine" was already well known to the general public, it was reinstated, and, to achieve consistency of this title with the Hindu references in the libretto, India was changed to Madagascar. The opera was greatly shortened, damaging some of the logic of the story.