diff --git a/src/core/server/plugins/plugins_service.test.ts b/src/core/server/plugins/plugins_service.test.ts
index 64a382e539fb0..d36fd2251176a 100644
--- a/src/core/server/plugins/plugins_service.test.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/plugins/plugins_service.test.ts
@@ -102,42 +102,35 @@ const createPlugin = (
   });
 };
 
-async function testSetup(options: { isDevClusterMaster?: boolean } = {}) {
-  mockPackage.raw = {
-    branch: 'feature-v1',
-    version: 'v1',
-    build: {
-      distributable: true,
-      number: 100,
-      sha: 'feature-v1-build-sha',
-    },
-  };
-
-  coreId = Symbol('core');
-  env = Env.createDefault(REPO_ROOT, {
-    ...getEnvOptions(),
-    isDevClusterMaster: options.isDevClusterMaster ?? false,
-  });
+describe('PluginsService', () => {
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    mockPackage.raw = {
+      branch: 'feature-v1',
+      version: 'v1',
+      build: {
+        distributable: true,
+        number: 100,
+        sha: 'feature-v1-build-sha',
+      },
+    };
 
-  config$ = new BehaviorSubject<Record<string, any>>({ plugins: { initialize: true } });
-  const rawConfigService = rawConfigServiceMock.create({ rawConfig$: config$ });
-  configService = new ConfigService(rawConfigService, env, logger);
-  await configService.setSchema(config.path, config.schema);
-  pluginsService = new PluginsService({ coreId, env, logger, configService });
+    coreId = Symbol('core');
+    env = Env.createDefault(REPO_ROOT, getEnvOptions());
 
-  [mockPluginSystem] = MockPluginsSystem.mock.instances as any;
-  mockPluginSystem.uiPlugins.mockReturnValue(new Map());
+    config$ = new BehaviorSubject<Record<string, any>>({ plugins: { initialize: true } });
+    const rawConfigService = rawConfigServiceMock.create({ rawConfig$: config$ });
+    configService = new ConfigService(rawConfigService, env, logger);
+    await configService.setSchema(config.path, config.schema);
+    pluginsService = new PluginsService({ coreId, env, logger, configService });
 
-  environmentSetup = environmentServiceMock.createSetupContract();
-}
+    [mockPluginSystem] = MockPluginsSystem.mock.instances as any;
+    mockPluginSystem.uiPlugins.mockReturnValue(new Map());
 
-afterEach(() => {
-  jest.clearAllMocks();
-});
+    environmentSetup = environmentServiceMock.createSetupContract();
+  });
 
-describe('PluginsService', () => {
-  beforeEach(async () => {
-    await testSetup();
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.clearAllMocks();
   });
 
   describe('#discover()', () => {
@@ -620,29 +613,3 @@ describe('PluginsService', () => {
     });
   });
 });
-
-describe('PluginService when isDevClusterMaster is true', () => {
-  beforeEach(async () => {
-    await testSetup({
-      isDevClusterMaster: true,
-    });
-  });
-
-  describe('#discover()', () => {
-    it('does not try to run discovery', async () => {
-      await expect(pluginsService.discover({ environment: environmentSetup })).resolves
-        .toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
-              Object {
-                "pluginTree": undefined,
-                "uiPlugins": Object {
-                  "browserConfigs": Map {},
-                  "internal": Map {},
-                  "public": Map {},
-                },
-              }
-            `);
-
-      expect(mockDiscover).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-    });
-  });
-});
diff --git a/src/core/server/plugins/plugins_service.ts b/src/core/server/plugins/plugins_service.ts
index a1062bde7765f..e8fe42ee491ca 100644
--- a/src/core/server/plugins/plugins_service.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/plugins/plugins_service.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
  */
 
 import Path from 'path';
-import { Observable, EMPTY } from 'rxjs';
+import { Observable } from 'rxjs';
 import { filter, first, map, mergeMap, tap, toArray } from 'rxjs/operators';
 import { pick } from '@kbn/std';
 
@@ -86,11 +86,9 @@ export class PluginsService implements CoreService<PluginsServiceSetup, PluginsS
   private readonly config$: Observable<PluginsConfig>;
   private readonly pluginConfigDescriptors = new Map<PluginName, PluginConfigDescriptor>();
   private readonly uiPluginInternalInfo = new Map<PluginName, InternalPluginInfo>();
-  private readonly discoveryDisabled: boolean;
 
   constructor(private readonly coreContext: CoreContext) {
     this.log = coreContext.logger.get('plugins-service');
-    this.discoveryDisabled = coreContext.env.isDevClusterMaster;
     this.pluginsSystem = new PluginsSystem(coreContext);
     this.configService = coreContext.configService;
     this.config$ = coreContext.configService
@@ -99,17 +97,13 @@ export class PluginsService implements CoreService<PluginsServiceSetup, PluginsS
   }
 
   public async discover({ environment }: PluginsServiceDiscoverDeps) {
-    const config = await this.config$.pipe(first()).toPromise();
+    this.log.debug('Discovering plugins');
 
-    const { error$, plugin$ } = this.discoveryDisabled
-      ? {
-          error$: EMPTY,
-          plugin$: EMPTY,
-        }
-      : discover(config, this.coreContext, {
-          uuid: environment.instanceUuid,
-        });
+    const config = await this.config$.pipe(first()).toPromise();
 
+    const { error$, plugin$ } = discover(config, this.coreContext, {
+      uuid: environment.instanceUuid,
+    });
     await this.handleDiscoveryErrors(error$);
     await this.handleDiscoveredPlugins(plugin$);