diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 570aae3984..79b9a10753 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ test "$enable_ifupdown" = "yes"           && distro_plugins="$distro_plugins,ifu
 test "$enable_ifnet" = "yes"              && distro_plugins="$distro_plugins,ifnet"
 distro_plugins="${distro_plugins#,}"
 
-AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(CONFIG_PLUGINS_DEFAULT, "$config_plugins_default", [Default configuration option for main.plugins setting])
+AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(NM_CONFIG_PLUGINS_DEFAULT, "$config_plugins_default", [Default configuration option for main.plugins setting])
 if test "${enable_config_plugin_ibft}" = yes; then
 	AC_DEFINE(WITH_SETTINGS_PLUGIN_IBFT, 1, [Whether compilation of ibft setting plugin is enabled])
 else
diff --git a/src/nm-config.c b/src/nm-config.c
index 0ef7fc2090..9615353bd9 100644
--- a/src/nm-config.c
+++ b/src/nm-config.c
@@ -512,7 +512,7 @@ nm_config_cmd_line_options_add_to_entries (NMConfigCmdLineOptions *cli,
 			{ "intern-config", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_FILENAME, &cli->intern_config_file, N_("Internal config file location"), N_(DEFAULT_INTERN_CONFIG_FILE) },
 			{ "state-file", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_FILENAME, &cli->state_file, N_("State file location"), N_(DEFAULT_STATE_FILE) },
 			{ "no-auto-default", 0, G_OPTION_FLAG_HIDDEN, G_OPTION_ARG_FILENAME, &cli->no_auto_default_file, N_("State file for no-auto-default devices"), N_(DEFAULT_NO_AUTO_DEFAULT_FILE) },
-			{ "plugins", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING, &cli->plugins, N_("List of plugins separated by ','"), N_(CONFIG_PLUGINS_DEFAULT) },
+			{ "plugins", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING, &cli->plugins, N_("List of plugins separated by ','"), N_(NM_CONFIG_PLUGINS_DEFAULT) },
 			{ "configure-and-quit", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &cli->configure_and_quit, N_("Quit after initial configuration"), NULL },
 			{ "debug", 'd', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &cli->is_debug, N_("Don't become a daemon, and log to stderr"), NULL },
 
@@ -947,7 +947,6 @@ read_entire_config (const NMConfigCmdLineOptions *cli,
 	guint i;
 	gs_free char *o_config_main_file = NULL;
 	GString *str;
-	char **plugins_default;
 
 	g_return_val_if_fail (config_dir, NULL);
 	g_return_val_if_fail (system_config_dir, NULL);
@@ -958,11 +957,6 @@ read_entire_config (const NMConfigCmdLineOptions *cli,
 	/* create a default configuration file. */
 	keyfile = nm_config_create_keyfile ();
 
-	plugins_default = g_strsplit (CONFIG_PLUGINS_DEFAULT, ",", -1);
-	if (plugins_default && plugins_default[0])
-		nm_config_keyfile_set_string_list (keyfile, NM_CONFIG_KEYFILE_GROUP_MAIN, "plugins", (const char *const*) plugins_default, -1);
-	g_strfreev (plugins_default);
-
 	system_confs = _get_config_dir_files (system_config_dir);
 	confs = _get_config_dir_files (config_dir);
 
@@ -2305,8 +2299,6 @@ init_sync (GInitable *initable, GCancellable *cancellable, GError **error)
 
 	priv->plugins = _nm_utils_strv_cleanup (g_key_file_get_string_list (keyfile, NM_CONFIG_KEYFILE_GROUP_MAIN, "plugins", NULL, NULL),
 	                                        TRUE, TRUE, TRUE);
-	if (!priv->plugins)
-		priv->plugins = g_new0 (char *, 1);
 
 	priv->monitor_connection_files = nm_config_keyfile_get_boolean (keyfile, NM_CONFIG_KEYFILE_GROUP_MAIN, "monitor-connection-files", FALSE);
 
diff --git a/src/settings/nm-settings.c b/src/settings/nm-settings.c
index 3f2e38c3a6..aafb543750 100644
--- a/src/settings/nm-settings.c
+++ b/src/settings/nm-settings.c
@@ -2292,11 +2292,19 @@ nm_settings_start (NMSettings *self, GError **error)
 	GDBusProxy *proxy;
 	GVariant *variant;
 	GError *local_error = NULL;
+	const char **plugins;
+	gs_strfreev char **plugins_default = NULL;
 
 	priv = NM_SETTINGS_GET_PRIVATE (self);
 
 	/* Load the plugins; fail if a plugin is not found. */
-	if (!load_plugins (self, nm_config_get_plugins (priv->config), error)) {
+	plugins = nm_config_get_plugins (priv->config);
+	if (!plugins) {
+		plugins_default = g_strsplit (NM_CONFIG_PLUGINS_DEFAULT, ",", -1);
+		plugins = (const char **) plugins_default;
+	}
+
+	if (!load_plugins (self, plugins, error)) {
 		g_object_unref (self);
 		return FALSE;
 	}