diff --git a/core/src/main/java/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration.java b/core/src/main/java/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration.java
index 9b0ca5aaf8add1f5e18b4db32bdd586fb9217ab0..8a1d5cf8c85520807d6d95eb18beaccd2da4c8e2 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration.java
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ public class GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration extends GlobalConfiguration {
         return ExtensionList.lookupSingleton(GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration.class);
     }
 
+    public GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration() {
+        load();
+    }
+
     private final DescribableList<GlobalBuildDiscarderStrategy, GlobalBuildDiscarderStrategyDescriptor> configuredBuildDiscarders =
             new DescribableList<>(this, Collections.singletonList(new JobGlobalBuildDiscarderStrategy()));
 
diff --git a/test/src/test/java/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderTest.java b/test/src/test/java/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderTest.java
index 4544e5c881bb915fe3b18d9c6a440f2b18f26c35..8c3be81c0d7cb2a5ca20b4876b2de93a490e1cbb 100644
--- a/test/src/test/java/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderTest.java
+++ b/test/src/test/java/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderTest.java
@@ -5,15 +5,35 @@ import hudson.model.FreeStyleProject;
 import hudson.model.Run;
 import hudson.model.TaskListener;
 import hudson.tasks.LogRotator;
+import hudson.util.DescribableList;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
+import org.jvnet.hudson.test.Issue;
 import org.jvnet.hudson.test.JenkinsRule;
+import org.jvnet.hudson.test.recipes.LocalData;
 
 public class GlobalBuildDiscarderTest {
     @Rule
     public JenkinsRule j = new JenkinsRule();
 
+    @Test
+    @LocalData
+    @Issue("JENKINS-61688")
+    public void testLoading() throws Exception {
+        Assert.assertEquals(0, GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration.get().getConfiguredBuildDiscarders().size());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @LocalData
+    @Issue("JENKINS-61688")
+    public void testLoadingWithDiscarders() throws Exception {
+        final DescribableList<GlobalBuildDiscarderStrategy, GlobalBuildDiscarderStrategyDescriptor> configuredBuildDiscarders = GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration.get().getConfiguredBuildDiscarders();
+        Assert.assertEquals(2, configuredBuildDiscarders.size());
+        Assert.assertNotNull(configuredBuildDiscarders.get(JobGlobalBuildDiscarderStrategy.class));
+        Assert.assertEquals(5, ((LogRotator)configuredBuildDiscarders.get(SimpleGlobalBuildDiscarderStrategy.class).getDiscarder()).getNumToKeep());
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testJobBuildDiscarder() throws Exception {
         FreeStyleProject p = j.createFreeStyleProject();
diff --git a/test/src/test/resources/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderTest/testLoading/jenkins.model.GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration.xml b/test/src/test/resources/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderTest/testLoading/jenkins.model.GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..08970809ad0c8076038a2ab89c00a0dce4c46c05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/src/test/resources/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderTest/testLoading/jenkins.model.GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+<?xml version='1.1' encoding='UTF-8'?>
+<jenkins.model.GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration>
+  <configuredBuildDiscarders/>
+</jenkins.model.GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/src/test/resources/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderTest/testLoadingWithDiscarders/jenkins.model.GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration.xml b/test/src/test/resources/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderTest/testLoadingWithDiscarders/jenkins.model.GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c40e61245ddd0deab07d71bd8ab85f4ca1a6be26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/src/test/resources/jenkins/model/GlobalBuildDiscarderTest/testLoadingWithDiscarders/jenkins.model.GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+<?xml version='1.1' encoding='UTF-8'?>
+<jenkins.model.GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration>
+  <configuredBuildDiscarders>
+    <jenkins.model.JobGlobalBuildDiscarderStrategy/>
+    <jenkins.model.SimpleGlobalBuildDiscarderStrategy>
+      <discarder class="hudson.tasks.LogRotator">
+        <daysToKeep>-1</daysToKeep>
+        <numToKeep>5</numToKeep>
+        <artifactDaysToKeep>-1</artifactDaysToKeep>
+        <artifactNumToKeep>-1</artifactNumToKeep>
+      </discarder>
+    </jenkins.model.SimpleGlobalBuildDiscarderStrategy>
+  </configuredBuildDiscarders>
+</jenkins.model.GlobalBuildDiscarderConfiguration>
\ No newline at end of file