diff --git a/kdevplatform/shell/plugincontroller.h b/kdevplatform/shell/plugincontroller.h
--- a/kdevplatform/shell/plugincontroller.h
+++ b/kdevplatform/shell/plugincontroller.h
@@ -132,7 +132,6 @@
     void unloadProjectPlugins();
 
     void resetToDefaults();
-    bool isEnabled(const KPluginMetaData& info) const;
 
 private:
     /**
diff --git a/kdevplatform/shell/plugincontroller.cpp b/kdevplatform/shell/plugincontroller.cpp
--- a/kdevplatform/shell/plugincontroller.cpp
+++ b/kdevplatform/shell/plugincontroller.cpp
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@
 inline QString KEY_Interfaces() { return QStringLiteral("X-KDevelop-Interfaces"); }
 inline QString KEY_Required() { return QStringLiteral("X-KDevelop-IRequired"); }
 inline QString KEY_Optional() { return QStringLiteral("X-KDevelop-IOptional"); }
+inline QString KEY_KPlugin() { return QStringLiteral("KPlugin"); }
+inline QString KEY_EnabledByDefault() { return QStringLiteral("EnabledByDefault"); }
 
 inline QString KEY_Global() { return QStringLiteral("Global"); }
 inline QString KEY_Project() { return QStringLiteral("Project"); }
@@ -228,33 +230,22 @@
      */
     bool isEnabled(const KPluginMetaData& info) const
     {
+        // first check black listing from environment
         static const QStringList disabledPlugins = QString::fromLatin1(qgetenv("KDEV_DISABLE_PLUGINS")).split(';');
         if (disabledPlugins.contains(info.pluginId())) {
             return false;
         }
 
         if (!isUserSelectable( info ))
             return true;
 
-        // in case there's a user preference, prefer that
+        // read stored user preference
         const KConfigGroup grp = Core::self()->activeSession()->config()->group( KEY_Plugins() );
         const QString pluginEnabledKey = info.pluginId() + KEY_Suffix_Enabled();
         if (grp.hasKey(pluginEnabledKey)) {
             return grp.readEntry(pluginEnabledKey, true);
         }
 
-        // in all other cases: figure out if we want to load that plugin by default
-        const auto defaultPlugins = ShellExtension::getInstance()->defaultPlugins();
-        const bool isDefaultPlugin = defaultPlugins.isEmpty() || defaultPlugins.contains(info.pluginId());
-        if (isDefaultPlugin) {
-            return true;
-        }
-
-        if (!isGlobalPlugin( info )) {
-            QJsonValue enabledByDefault = info.rawData()[QStringLiteral("KPlugin")].toObject()[QStringLiteral("EnabledByDefault")];
-            return enabledByDefault.isNull() || enabledByDefault.toBool(); //We consider plugins enabled until specified otherwise
-        }
-
         return false;
     }
 
@@ -346,11 +337,6 @@
     return loadPluginInternal( pluginName );
 }
 
-bool PluginController::isEnabled( const KPluginMetaData& info ) const
-{
-    return d->isEnabled(info);
-}
-
 void PluginController::initialize()
 {
     QElapsedTimer timer;
@@ -361,7 +347,10 @@
     {
         foreach( const KPluginMetaData& pi, d->plugins )
         {
-            pluginMap.insert( pi.pluginId(), true );
+            QJsonValue enabledByDefaultValue = pi.rawData()[KEY_KPlugin()].toObject()[KEY_EnabledByDefault()];
+            // plugins enabled until explicitly specified otherwise
+            const bool enabledByDefault = (enabledByDefaultValue.isNull() || enabledByDefaultValue.toBool());
+            pluginMap.insert(pi.pluginId(), enabledByDefault);
         }
     } else
     {
@@ -387,32 +376,28 @@
         }
     }
 
-    foreach( const KPluginMetaData& pi, d->plugins )
-    {
-        if( isGlobalPlugin( pi ) )
-        {
-            QMap<QString, bool>::const_iterator it = pluginMap.constFind( pi.pluginId() );
-            if( it != pluginMap.constEnd() && ( it.value() || !isUserSelectable( pi ) ) )
-            {
-                // Plugin is mentioned in pluginmap and the value is true, so try to load it
-                loadPluginInternal( pi.pluginId() );
-                if(!grp.hasKey(pi.pluginId() + KEY_Suffix_Enabled())) {
-                    if( isUserSelectable( pi ) )
-                    {
-                        // If plugin isn't listed yet, add it with true now
-                        grp.writeEntry(pi.pluginId() + KEY_Suffix_Enabled(), true);
-                    }
-                } else if( grp.hasKey( pi.pluginId() + "Disabled" ) && !isUserSelectable( pi ) )
-                {
-                    // Remove now-obsolete entries
-                    grp.deleteEntry( pi.pluginId() + "Disabled" );
-                }
+    // store current known set of enabled plugins
+    foreach (const KPluginMetaData& pi, d->plugins) {
+        if (isUserSelectable(pi)) {
+            auto it = pluginMap.constFind(pi.pluginId());
+            if (it != pluginMap.constEnd() && (it.value())) {
+                grp.writeEntry(pi.pluginId() + KEY_Suffix_Enabled(), true);
             }
+        } else {
+            // Backward compat: Remove any now-obsolete entries
+            grp.deleteEntry(pi.pluginId() + QLatin1String("Disabled"));
         }
     }
     // Synchronize so we're writing out to the file.
     grp.sync();
 
+    // load global plugins
+    foreach (const KPluginMetaData& pi, d->plugins) {
+        if (isGlobalPlugin(pi)) {
+            loadPluginInternal(pi.pluginId());
+        }
+    }
+
     qCDebug(SHELL) << "Done loading plugins - took:" << timer.elapsed() << "ms";
 }
 
@@ -490,7 +475,7 @@
         return plugin;
     }
 
-    if ( !isEnabled( info ) ) {
+    if (!d->isEnabled(info)) {
         // Do not load disabled plugins
         qCWarning(SHELL) << "Not loading plugin named" << pluginId << "because it has been disabled!";
         return nullptr;
@@ -760,6 +745,7 @@
                 loadPluginInternal( info.pluginId() );
             }
         }
+        // TODO: what about project plugins? what about dependency plugins?
     }
 }
 
@@ -774,7 +760,15 @@
     {
         foreach( const KPluginMetaData& info, d->plugins )
         {
-            plugins << info.pluginId();
+            if (!isUserSelectable(info)) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            QJsonValue enabledByDefault = info.rawData()[KEY_KPlugin()].toObject()[KEY_EnabledByDefault()];
+            // plugins enabled until explicitly specified otherwise
+            if (enabledByDefault.isNull() || enabledByDefault.toBool()) {
+                plugins << info.pluginId();
+            }
         }
     }
     foreach( const QString& s, plugins )
diff --git a/kdevplatform/shell/settings/pluginpreferences.cpp b/kdevplatform/shell/settings/pluginpreferences.cpp
--- a/kdevplatform/shell/settings/pluginpreferences.cpp
+++ b/kdevplatform/shell/settings/pluginpreferences.cpp
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@
                 category = QStringLiteral("Other");
             }
             KPluginInfo kpi(info);
-            kpi.setPluginEnabled(Core::self()->pluginControllerInternal()->isEnabled(info));
             plugins[category] << kpi;
         } else
             qCDebug(SHELL) << "skipping..." << info.pluginId() << info.value(QStringLiteral("X-KDevelop-Category")) << loadMode;
@@ -82,7 +81,6 @@
                              Core::self()->activeSession()->config());
     }
     connect(selector, &KPluginSelector::changed, this, &PluginPreferences::changed);
-    selector->load();
 }
 
 void PluginPreferences::defaults()
diff --git a/kdevplatform/shell/shellextension.h b/kdevplatform/shell/shellextension.h
--- a/kdevplatform/shell/shellextension.h
+++ b/kdevplatform/shell/shellextension.h
@@ -69,7 +69,9 @@
 
     /**
      * Reimplement to return the list of plugins that should
-     * automatically be loaded
+     * loaded by default.
+     * If an empty list is returned, instead the plugin metadata is fallen back to,
+     * by reading the bool value KPlugin/EnabledByDefault (default: true).
      */
     virtual QStringList defaultPlugins() = 0;
 
diff --git a/plugins/cmake/tests/test_cmakemanager.cpp b/plugins/cmake/tests/test_cmakemanager.cpp
--- a/plugins/cmake/tests/test_cmakemanager.cpp
+++ b/plugins/cmake/tests/test_cmakemanager.cpp
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
 {
     QLoggingCategory::setFilterRules(QStringLiteral("*.debug=false\ndefault.debug=true\n"));
 
-    AutoTestShell::init({"kdevcmakemanager"});
+    AutoTestShell::init({"KDevCMakeManager", "KDevCMakeBuilder", "KDevMakeBuilder", "KDevStandardOutputView"});
     TestCore::initialize();
 
     cleanup();
diff --git a/plugins/cmake/tests/test_ctestfindsuites.cpp b/plugins/cmake/tests/test_ctestfindsuites.cpp
--- a/plugins/cmake/tests/test_ctestfindsuites.cpp
+++ b/plugins/cmake/tests/test_ctestfindsuites.cpp
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
 
 void TestCTestFindSuites::initTestCase()
 {
-    AutoTestShell::init({"kdevcmakemanager"});
+    AutoTestShell::init({"KDevCMakeManager", "KDevCMakeBuilder", "KDevMakeBuilder", "KDevStandardOutputView"});
     TestCore::initialize();
 
     cleanup();
diff --git a/plugins/custom-buildsystem/tests/test_custombuildsystemplugin.cpp b/plugins/custom-buildsystem/tests/test_custombuildsystemplugin.cpp
--- a/plugins/custom-buildsystem/tests/test_custombuildsystemplugin.cpp
+++ b/plugins/custom-buildsystem/tests/test_custombuildsystemplugin.cpp
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
 }
 void TestCustomBuildSystemPlugin::initTestCase()
 {
-    AutoTestShell::init({"kdevcustombuildsystem"});
+    AutoTestShell::init({"KDevCustomBuildSystem", "KDevStandardOutputView"});
     TestCore::initialize();
 }
 
diff --git a/plugins/qmakemanager/tests/test_qmakeproject.cpp b/plugins/qmakemanager/tests/test_qmakeproject.cpp
--- a/plugins/qmakemanager/tests/test_qmakeproject.cpp
+++ b/plugins/qmakemanager/tests/test_qmakeproject.cpp
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
 
 void TestQMakeProject::initTestCase()
 {
-    AutoTestShell::init({ "kdevqmakemanager" });
+    AutoTestShell::init({ "KDevQMakeManager", "KDevQMakeBuilder", "KDevMakeBuilder", "KDevStandardOutputView" });
     TestCore::initialize();
 }
 
diff --git a/plugins/qmljs/duchain/tests/test_qmljsdeclarations.cpp b/plugins/qmljs/duchain/tests/test_qmljsdeclarations.cpp
--- a/plugins/qmljs/duchain/tests/test_qmljsdeclarations.cpp
+++ b/plugins/qmljs/duchain/tests/test_qmljsdeclarations.cpp
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
 
 void TestDeclarations::initTestCase()
 {
-    AutoTestShell::init({"kdevqmljslanguagesupport"});
+    AutoTestShell::init({"kdevqmljs"});
     TestCore::initialize(Core::NoUi);
 
     QmlJS::registerDUChainItems();
diff --git a/plugins/qmljs/tests/test_files.cpp b/plugins/qmljs/tests/test_files.cpp
--- a/plugins/qmljs/tests/test_files.cpp
+++ b/plugins/qmljs/tests/test_files.cpp
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
 
 void TestFiles::initTestCase()
 {
-  AutoTestShell::init({"kdevqmljslanguagesupport"});
+  AutoTestShell::init({"kdevqmljs"});
   TestCore::initialize(KDevelop::Core::NoUi);
   DUChain::self()->disablePersistentStorage();
   Core::self()->languageController()->backgroundParser()->setDelay(0);
diff --git a/plugins/subversion/tests/test_svnimport.cpp b/plugins/subversion/tests/test_svnimport.cpp
--- a/plugins/subversion/tests/test_svnimport.cpp
+++ b/plugins/subversion/tests/test_svnimport.cpp
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@
 void TestSvnImport::initTestCase()
 {
     QLoggingCategory::setFilterRules(QStringLiteral("*.debug=false\ndefault.debug=true\nkdevplatform.plugins.svn.debug=true\n"));
-    AutoTestShell::init({QStringLiteral("kdevsubversion")});
+    AutoTestShell::init({QStringLiteral("kdevsubversion"), QStringLiteral("KDevStandardOutputView")});
     TestCore::initialize();
 
     QList<IPlugin*> plugins = Core::self()->pluginController()->allPluginsForExtension(QStringLiteral("org.kdevelop.IBasicVersionControl"));
diff --git a/plugins/subversion/tests/test_svnrecursiveadd.cpp b/plugins/subversion/tests/test_svnrecursiveadd.cpp
--- a/plugins/subversion/tests/test_svnrecursiveadd.cpp
+++ b/plugins/subversion/tests/test_svnrecursiveadd.cpp
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
 
 void TestSvnRecursiveAdd::initTestCase()
 {
-    AutoTestShell::init({"kdevsubversion"});
+    AutoTestShell::init({"kdevsubversion", "KDevStandardOutputView"});
     TestCore::initialize();
 }