A system and method for autonomous correction of defective documents include an autonomous document. The autonomous document can signal a history server whenever an operation such as printing, scanning, editing, distribution, storage, or retrieval is performed on the document. The history server can be queried to determine when a given defect was introduced into a document, and which instances of the document contain the defect. Based on this information, notifications can be sent to all users who were ever in possession of one of the defective instances, and the defective instances can be automatically corrected. Since the document instances are active entities, they can receive and act on notifications of defects in themselves, follow instructions on how to correct the defect, and notify the history server once the defect has been corrected. The document can act without permission from any user in possession of the document.