diff --git a/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/scm_sync_configuration/ScmSyncConfigurationPlugin.java b/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/scm_sync_configuration/ScmSyncConfigurationPlugin.java
index ef1b7da9..5604abdb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/scm_sync_configuration/ScmSyncConfigurationPlugin.java
+++ b/src/main/java/hudson/plugins/scm_sync_configuration/ScmSyncConfigurationPlugin.java
@@ -154,7 +154,6 @@ public void start() throws Exception {
         // because, for some unknown reasons, we reach plexus bootstraping exceptions when
         // calling Embedder.start() when everything is loaded (very strange...)
         SCMManagerFactory.getInstance().start();
-        initialInit();
     }
 
     public void loadData(ScmSyncConfigurationPOJO pojo){
@@ -166,14 +165,6 @@ public void loadData(ScmSyncConfigurationPOJO pojo){
         this.manualSynchronizationIncludes = pojo.getManualSynchronizationIncludes();
     }
 
-    protected void initialInit() throws Exception {
-        // We need to init() here in addition to ScmSyncConfigurationItemListener.onLoaded() to ensure that we do
-        // indeed create the SCM work directory when we are loaded. Otherwise, the plugin can be installed but
-        // then fails to operate until the next time Jenkins is restarted. Using postInitialize() for this might
-        // be too late if the plugin is copied to the plugin directory and then Jenkins is started.
-        this.business.init(createScmContext());
-    }
-
     public void init() {
         try {
             this.business.init(createScmContext());
diff --git a/src/test/java/hudson/plugins/scm_sync_configuration/util/ScmSyncConfigurationBaseTest.java b/src/test/java/hudson/plugins/scm_sync_configuration/util/ScmSyncConfigurationBaseTest.java
index 2bef1afe..7fba8846 100644
--- a/src/test/java/hudson/plugins/scm_sync_configuration/util/ScmSyncConfigurationBaseTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/hudson/plugins/scm_sync_configuration/util/ScmSyncConfigurationBaseTest.java
@@ -75,12 +75,7 @@ public void setup() throws Throwable {
         // Instantiating ScmSyncConfigurationPlugin instance for unit tests by using
         // synchronous transactions (instead of an asynchronous ones)
         // => this way, every commit will be processed synchronously !
-        ScmSyncConfigurationPlugin scmSyncConfigPluginInstance = new ScmSyncConfigurationPlugin(true) {
-            @Override
-            public void initialInit() throws Exception {
-                // No-op. We *must not* initialize here in tests because the tests provide their own setup.
-            }
-        };
+        ScmSyncConfigurationPlugin scmSyncConfigPluginInstance = new ScmSyncConfigurationPlugin(true);
 
         // Mocking PluginWrapper attached to current ScmSyncConfigurationPlugin instance
         PluginWrapper pluginWrapper = PowerMockito.mock(PluginWrapper.class);