diff --git a/src/etc/inc/plugins.inc.d/dpinger.inc b/src/etc/inc/plugins.inc.d/dpinger.inc
index 01f0276fa..534f4df42 100644
--- a/src/etc/inc/plugins.inc.d/dpinger.inc
+++ b/src/etc/inc/plugins.inc.d/dpinger.inc
@@ -121,6 +121,13 @@ function dpinger_instances($extended = false)
             }
         }
 
+        foreach (\OPNsense\Routing\Gateways::getDpingerDefaults() as $key => $value) {
+            /* make sure callers can reliably query the dpinger settings */
+            if (empty($gateway[$key])) {
+                $gateway[$key] = $value;
+            }
+        }
+
         $instances[$name] = $gateway;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Routing/Gateways.php b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Routing/Gateways.php
index ac5b0e907..552c97529 100644
--- a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Routing/Gateways.php
+++ b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Routing/Gateways.php
@@ -72,9 +72,13 @@ class Gateways extends BaseModel
             $tagName = $node->getInternalXMLTagName();
             if (array_key_exists($tagName, $defaults)) {
                 if (empty((string)$node)) {
-                    // Since dpinger values are not required in the model,
-                    // we set them to the defaults here if they're empty.
+                    /*
+                     * Since dpinger values are not required in the model,
+                     * we set them to the defaults here if they're empty, but keep them virtual so
+                     * they're not persisted. The validations below might depend on the values being set.
+                     */
                     $node->setValue($defaults[$tagName]);
+                    $node->setInternalIsVirtual(true);
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -272,7 +276,8 @@ class Gateways extends BaseModel
 
                         foreach ($this->getDpingerDefaults() as $key => $value) {
                             if (empty($record[$key])) {
-                                $record[$key] = $value;
+                                // make sure node exists without value set
+                                $record[$key] = '';
                             }
                         }
                         $record['uuid'] = '';
diff --git a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Routing/Migrations/M1_0_0.php b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Routing/Migrations/M1_0_0.php
index 3b4c4b240..52aed0777 100644
--- a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Routing/Migrations/M1_0_0.php
+++ b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Routing/Migrations/M1_0_0.php
@@ -74,13 +74,6 @@ class M1_0_0 extends BaseModelMigration
                     $node->$key = (string)$value;
                 }
 
-                // apply dpinger defaults if old model didn't have them set
-                foreach (Gateways::getDpingerDefaults() as $key => $value) {
-                    if (empty((string)$node->$key)) {
-                        $node->$key = $value;
-                    }
-                }
-
                 // increase time period if old model had it set too low
                 $min_time_period = 2 * (intval((string)$node->interval) + intval((string)$node->loss_interval));
                 if ((string)$node->time_period < $min_time_period) {