diff --git a/domain-server/src/DomainServerSettingsManager.cpp b/domain-server/src/DomainServerSettingsManager.cpp
index d3360d9ded..6c50e5245d 100644
--- a/domain-server/src/DomainServerSettingsManager.cpp
+++ b/domain-server/src/DomainServerSettingsManager.cpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include <NLPacketList.h>
 #include <NumericalConstants.h>
 #include <SettingHandle.h>
+#include <SettingHelpers.h>
 #include <AvatarData.h> //for KillAvatarReason
 #include <FingerprintUtils.h>
 #include "DomainServerNodeData.h"
@@ -43,12 +44,7 @@ const QString DESCRIPTION_COLUMNS_KEY = "columns";
 
 const QString SETTINGS_VIEWPOINT_KEY = "viewpoint";
 
-static Setting::Handle<double> JSON_SETTING_VERSION("json-settings/version", 0.0);
-
-DomainServerSettingsManager::DomainServerSettingsManager() :
-    _descriptionArray(),
-    _configMap()
-{
+DomainServerSettingsManager::DomainServerSettingsManager() {
     // load the description object from the settings description
     QFile descriptionFile(QCoreApplication::applicationDirPath() + SETTINGS_DESCRIPTION_RELATIVE_PATH);
     descriptionFile.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly);
@@ -102,9 +98,32 @@ void DomainServerSettingsManager::setupConfigMap(const QStringList& argumentList
 
     _configMap.loadConfig(_argumentList);
 
+    static const auto VERSION_SETTINGS_KEYPATH = "version";
+    QVariant* versionVariant = _configMap.valueForKeyPath(VERSION_SETTINGS_KEYPATH);
+
+    if (!versionVariant) {
+        versionVariant = _configMap.valueForKeyPath(VERSION_SETTINGS_KEYPATH, true);
+        *versionVariant = _descriptionVersion;
+        persistToFile();
+        qDebug() << "No version in config file, setting to current version" << _descriptionVersion;
+    }
+
+    {
+        // Backward compatibility migration code
+        // The config version used to be stored in a different file
+        // This moves it to the actual config file.
+        Setting::Handle<double> JSON_SETTING_VERSION("json-settings/version", 0.0);
+        if (JSON_SETTING_VERSION.isSet()) {
+            auto version = JSON_SETTING_VERSION.get();
+            *versionVariant = version;
+            persistToFile();
+            QFile::remove(settingsFilename());
+        }
+    }
+
     // What settings version were we before and what are we using now?
     // Do we need to do any re-mapping?
-    double oldVersion = JSON_SETTING_VERSION.get();
+    double oldVersion = versionVariant->toDouble();
 
     if (oldVersion != _descriptionVersion) {
         const QString ALLOWED_USERS_SETTINGS_KEYPATH = "security.allowed_users";
@@ -136,9 +155,6 @@ void DomainServerSettingsManager::setupConfigMap(const QStringList& argumentList
                 QVariant* restrictedAccess = _configMap.valueForKeyPath(RESTRICTED_ACCESS_SETTINGS_KEYPATH, true);
 
                 *restrictedAccess = QVariant(true);
-
-                // write the new settings to the json file
-                persistToFile();
             }
         }
 
@@ -168,9 +184,6 @@ void DomainServerSettingsManager::setupConfigMap(const QStringList& argumentList
 
                     *entityServerVariant = entityServerMap;
                 }
-
-                // write the new settings to the json file
-                persistToFile();
             }
 
         }
@@ -188,9 +201,6 @@ void DomainServerSettingsManager::setupConfigMap(const QStringList& argumentList
                 qDebug() << "Migrating plaintext password to SHA256 hash in domain-server settings.";
 
                 *passwordVariant = QCryptographicHash::hash(plaintextPassword.toUtf8(), QCryptographicHash::Sha256).toHex();
-
-                // write the new settings to file
-                persistToFile();
             }
         }
 
@@ -293,16 +303,16 @@ void DomainServerSettingsManager::setupConfigMap(const QStringList& argumentList
             QVariant* wizardCompletedOnce = _configMap.valueForKeyPath(WIZARD_COMPLETED_ONCE, true);
 
             *wizardCompletedOnce = QVariant(true);
-
-            // write the new settings to the json file
-            persistToFile();
         }
+
+        // write the current description version to our settings
+        *versionVariant = _descriptionVersion;
+
+        // write the new settings to the json file
+        persistToFile();
     }
 
     unpackPermissions();
-
-    // write the current description version to our settings
-    JSON_SETTING_VERSION.set(_descriptionVersion);
 }
 
 QVariantMap& DomainServerSettingsManager::getDescriptorsMap() {
diff --git a/libraries/shared/src/HifiConfigVariantMap.cpp b/libraries/shared/src/HifiConfigVariantMap.cpp
index 8730906afc..59f660feee 100644
--- a/libraries/shared/src/HifiConfigVariantMap.cpp
+++ b/libraries/shared/src/HifiConfigVariantMap.cpp
@@ -91,12 +91,6 @@ QVariantMap HifiConfigVariantMap::mergeCLParametersWithJSONConfig(const QStringL
     return mergedMap;
 }
 
-HifiConfigVariantMap::HifiConfigVariantMap() :
-    _userConfigFilename()
-{
-
-}
-
 void HifiConfigVariantMap::loadConfig(const QStringList& argumentList) {
     // load the user config
     const QString USER_CONFIG_FILE_OPTION = "--user-config";
diff --git a/libraries/shared/src/HifiConfigVariantMap.h b/libraries/shared/src/HifiConfigVariantMap.h
index e9db93173a..ee248ec3d2 100644
--- a/libraries/shared/src/HifiConfigVariantMap.h
+++ b/libraries/shared/src/HifiConfigVariantMap.h
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ class HifiConfigVariantMap {
 public:
     static QVariantMap mergeCLParametersWithJSONConfig(const QStringList& argumentList);
 
-    HifiConfigVariantMap();
     void loadConfig(const QStringList& argumentList);
 
     const QVariant value(const QString& key) const { return _userConfig.value(key); }
diff --git a/libraries/shared/src/SettingHelpers.cpp b/libraries/shared/src/SettingHelpers.cpp
index dd301aa5aa..c6b8ac8f83 100644
--- a/libraries/shared/src/SettingHelpers.cpp
+++ b/libraries/shared/src/SettingHelpers.cpp
@@ -23,9 +23,15 @@
 
 #include "SharedLogging.h"
 
+const QSettings::Format JSON_FORMAT = QSettings::registerFormat("json", readJSONFile, writeJSONFile);
+
 QSettings::SettingsMap jsonDocumentToVariantMap(const QJsonDocument& document);
 QJsonDocument variantMapToJsonDocument(const QSettings::SettingsMap& map);
 
+QString settingsFilename() {
+    return QSettings().fileName();
+}
+
 bool readJSONFile(QIODevice& device, QSettings::SettingsMap& map) {
     QJsonParseError jsonParseError;
 
diff --git a/libraries/shared/src/SettingHelpers.h b/libraries/shared/src/SettingHelpers.h
index 122e56957c..ad61897c65 100644
--- a/libraries/shared/src/SettingHelpers.h
+++ b/libraries/shared/src/SettingHelpers.h
@@ -14,12 +14,13 @@
 
 #include <QSettings>
 
+extern const QSettings::Format JSON_FORMAT;
+
+QString settingsFilename();
+
 bool readJSONFile(QIODevice& device, QSettings::SettingsMap& map);
 bool writeJSONFile(QIODevice& device, const QSettings::SettingsMap& map);
 
-static const auto JSON_FORMAT = QSettings::registerFormat("json", readJSONFile, writeJSONFile);
-
 void loadOldINIFile(QSettings& settings);
 
-
 #endif // hifi_SettingHelpers_h