diff --git a/base/gameDetector.cpp b/base/gameDetector.cpp
index 63cb0754018..0538a56de60 100644
--- a/base/gameDetector.cpp
+++ b/base/gameDetector.cpp
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ GameDetector::GameDetector() {
 	ConfMan.registerDefault("subtitles", false);
 	ConfMan.registerDefault("boot_param", 0);
 	ConfMan.registerDefault("save_slot", -1);
+	ConfMan.registerDefault("autosave_period", 5 * 60);	// By default, trigger autosave every 5 minutes
 
 #if !defined(DISABLE_SCUMM) || !defined(DISABLE_SWORD2)
 	ConfMan.registerDefault("object_labels", true);
diff --git a/base/main.cpp b/base/main.cpp
index 7e776a71374..a7eb30aff58 100644
--- a/base/main.cpp
+++ b/base/main.cpp
@@ -440,11 +440,6 @@ extern "C" int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 	// Update the config file
 	ConfMan.set("versioninfo", gScummVMVersion, Common::ConfigManager::kApplicationDomain);
 
-	if (!ConfMan.hasKey("autosave_period")) {
-		// By default, trigger autosave every 5 minutes
-		ConfMan.set("autosave_period", 5 * 60, Common::ConfigManager::kApplicationDomain);
-	}
-
 	// Quick preparse of command-line, looking for special debug flags
 	for (int ii = argc - 1; ii >= 1; ii--) {
 		s = argv[ii];