diff --git a/lib/wp/private/internal-comp-loader.c b/lib/wp/private/internal-comp-loader.c
index 667b98f9..097265ad 100644
--- a/lib/wp/private/internal-comp-loader.c
+++ b/lib/wp/private/internal-comp-loader.c
@@ -641,39 +641,18 @@ load_export_core (GTask * task, WpCore * core, WpSpaJson * args)
   g_task_return_pointer (task, g_steal_pointer (&export_core), g_object_unref);
 }
 
-static void
-on_settings_ready (WpSettings *s, GAsyncResult *res, gpointer data)
-{
-  GTask *task = G_TASK (data);
-  g_autoptr (GError) error = NULL;
-
-  if (!wp_object_activate_finish (WP_OBJECT (s), res, &error)) {
-    g_task_return_new_error (task,
-        WP_DOMAIN_LIBRARY, WP_LIBRARY_ERROR_OPERATION_FAILED,
-        "failed to activate settings instance: %s", error->message);
-    return;
-  }
-
-  g_task_return_pointer (task, NULL, NULL);
-}
-
 static void
 load_settings_instance (GTask * task, WpCore * core, WpSpaJson * args)
 {
   g_autofree gchar *metadata_name = NULL;
   if (args)
     wp_spa_json_object_get (args, "metadata.name", "s", &metadata_name, NULL);
-  if (!metadata_name)
-    metadata_name = g_strdup ("sm-settings");
 
-  wp_info_object (core, "loading settings instance '%s'...", metadata_name);
+  wp_info_object (core, "loading settings instance '%s'...",
+      metadata_name ? metadata_name : "(default: sm-settings)");
 
-  g_autoptr (WpSettings) settings = wp_settings_get_instance (core,
-      metadata_name);
-
-  wp_object_activate_closure (WP_OBJECT (settings), WP_OBJECT_FEATURES_ALL, NULL,
-      g_cclosure_new (G_CALLBACK (on_settings_ready), g_object_ref (task),
-          (GClosureNotify) g_object_unref));
+  WpSettings *settings = wp_settings_new (core, metadata_name);
+  g_task_return_pointer (task, settings, g_object_unref);
 }
 
 static const struct {
diff --git a/lib/wp/settings.c b/lib/wp/settings.c
index 8124d40b..c76d9f61 100644
--- a/lib/wp/settings.c
+++ b/lib/wp/settings.c
@@ -264,52 +264,52 @@ wp_settings_class_init (WpSettingsClass * klass)
           G_PARAM_READWRITE | G_PARAM_CONSTRUCT_ONLY | G_PARAM_STATIC_STRINGS));
 }
 
-static gboolean
-check_metadata_name (gpointer  g_object, gpointer  metadata_name)
+/*!
+ * \brief Creates a new WpSettings object
+ *
+ * \ingroup wpsettings
+ * \param core the WpCore
+ * \param metadata_name (nullable): the name of the metadata object to
+ *    associate with the settings object; NULL means the default "sm-settings"
+ * \returns (transfer full): a new WpSettings object
+ */
+WpSettings *
+wp_settings_new (WpCore * core, const gchar * metadata_name)
 {
-  if (!WP_IS_SETTINGS(g_object))
+  return g_object_new (WP_TYPE_SETTINGS,
+      "core", core,
+      "metadata-name", metadata_name ? metadata_name : "sm-settings",
+      NULL);
+}
+
+static gboolean
+find_settings_func (gpointer g_object, gpointer metadata_name)
+{
+  if (!WP_IS_SETTINGS (g_object))
     return FALSE;
 
-  g_auto (GValue) value = G_VALUE_INIT;
-  g_object_get_property (G_OBJECT(g_object), "metadata-name", &value);
-
-  return g_str_equal (g_value_get_string (&value), (gchar *)metadata_name);
+  return g_str_equal (((WpSettings *) g_object)->metadata_name,
+      (gchar *) metadata_name);
 }
 
 /*!
- * \brief Returns the WpSettings instance that is associated with the
- * given core.
- *
- * This method will also create the instance and register it with the core
- * if it had not been created before.
+ * \brief Finds a registered WpSettings object by its metadata name
  *
  * \ingroup wpsettings
- * \param core the core
- * \param metadata_name (nullable): the name of the metadata with which this
- *    object is associated. `sm-settings` is the default value picked if
- *    NULL is supplied.
- * \returns (transfer full): the WpSettings instance
+ * \param core the WpCore
+ * \param metadata_name (nullable): the name of the metadata object that the
+ *    settings object is associated with; NULL means the default "sm-settings"
+ * \returns (transfer full) (nullable): the WpSettings object, or NULL if not
+ *    found
  */
 WpSettings *
-wp_settings_get_instance (WpCore *core, const gchar *metadata_name)
+wp_settings_find (WpCore * core, const gchar * metadata_name)
 {
-  const gchar *name = (metadata_name ? metadata_name : "sm-settings") ;
-  WpSettings *settings = wp_core_find_object (core,
-      (GEqualFunc) check_metadata_name, name);
+  g_return_val_if_fail (WP_IS_CORE (core), NULL);
 
-  if (G_UNLIKELY (!settings)) {
-    settings = g_object_new (WP_TYPE_SETTINGS,
-        "core", core,
-        "metadata-name", name,
-        NULL);
-
-    wp_core_register_object (core, g_object_ref (settings));
-
-    wp_info_object (settings, "created wpsettings object for metadata"
-      " name \"%s\"", name);
-  }
-
-  return settings;
+  GObject *s = wp_core_find_object (core, (GEqualFunc) find_settings_func,
+      metadata_name ? metadata_name : "sm-settings");
+  return s ? WP_SETTINGS (s) : NULL;
 }
 
 /*!
diff --git a/lib/wp/settings.h b/lib/wp/settings.h
index 9ce3af5e..cf04e453 100644
--- a/lib/wp/settings.h
+++ b/lib/wp/settings.h
@@ -33,8 +33,10 @@ WP_API
 G_DECLARE_FINAL_TYPE (WpSettings, wp_settings, WP, SETTINGS, WpObject)
 
 WP_API
-WpSettings * wp_settings_get_instance (WpCore * core,
-    const gchar *metadata_name);
+WpSettings * wp_settings_new (WpCore * core, const gchar * metadata_name);
+
+WP_API
+WpSettings * wp_settings_find (WpCore * core, const gchar * metadata_name);
 
 /*!
  * \brief callback conveying the changed setting and its json value
diff --git a/modules/module-lua-scripting/api/api.c b/modules/module-lua-scripting/api/api.c
index 12e2a485..a81b479d 100644
--- a/modules/module-lua-scripting/api/api.c
+++ b/modules/module-lua-scripting/api/api.c
@@ -1810,8 +1810,7 @@ settings_get (lua_State *L)
 {
   const char *setting = luaL_checkstring (L, 1);
 
-  g_autoptr (WpSettings) s = wp_settings_get_instance (get_wp_core (L),
-      "sm-settings");
+  g_autoptr (WpSettings) s = wp_settings_find (get_wp_core (L), NULL);
 
   if (s) {
     WpSpaJson *j = wp_settings_get (s, setting);
@@ -1828,8 +1827,7 @@ static int
 settings_subscribe (lua_State *L)
 {
   const gchar *pattern = luaL_checkstring (L, 1);
-  g_autoptr (WpSettings) s = wp_settings_get_instance (get_wp_core (L),
-    "sm-settings");
+  g_autoptr (WpSettings) s = wp_settings_find (get_wp_core (L), NULL);
 
   guintptr sub_id = 0;
 
@@ -1847,8 +1845,7 @@ settings_unsubscribe (lua_State *L)
 {
   guintptr sub_id = luaL_checkinteger (L, 1);
   gboolean ret = FALSE;
-  g_autoptr (WpSettings) s = wp_settings_get_instance (get_wp_core (L),
-    "sm-settings");
+  g_autoptr (WpSettings) s = wp_settings_find (get_wp_core (L), NULL);
 
   if (s)
     ret = wp_settings_unsubscribe (s, sub_id);
diff --git a/tests/wp/settings.c b/tests/wp/settings.c
index b959b1bf..23357146 100644
--- a/tests/wp/settings.c
+++ b/tests/wp/settings.c
@@ -188,6 +188,8 @@ on_settings_ready (WpSettings *s, GAsyncResult *res, gpointer data)
 
   g_assert_true(wp_object_activate_finish (WP_OBJECT (s), res, NULL));
 
+  wp_core_register_object (self->base.core, g_object_ref (s));
+
   g_main_loop_quit(self->base.loop);
 }
 
@@ -197,7 +199,7 @@ test_wpsettings_setup (TestSettingsFixture *self, gconstpointer user_data)
   test_metadata_setup (self, user_data);
 
   {
-    self->s = wp_settings_get_instance (self->base.core, "sm-settings");
+    self->s = wp_settings_new (self->base.core, "sm-settings");
 
     wp_object_activate (WP_OBJECT (self->s),
         WP_OBJECT_FEATURES_ALL,
@@ -288,19 +290,19 @@ test_wpsettings (TestSettingsFixture *self, gconstpointer data)
     g_assert_cmpfloat_with_epsilon (value, 0.4, 0.001);
   }
 
-  /* test the wp_settings_get_instance () API */
+  /* test the wp_settings_find () API */
   {
     g_autoptr (WpSettings) s1 =
-        wp_settings_get_instance (self->base.core, "test-settings");
+        wp_settings_find (self->base.core, NULL);
     g_autoptr (WpSettings) s2 =
-        wp_settings_get_instance (self->base.core, "test-settings");
+        wp_settings_find (self->base.core, "sm-settings");
     g_autoptr (WpSettings) s3 =
-        wp_settings_get_instance (self->base.core, "blah-blah");
+        wp_settings_find (self->base.core, "blah-blah");
 
-    g_assert_false (s == s1);
+    g_assert_true (s == s1);
     g_assert_true (s1 == s2);
     g_assert_false (s1 == s3);
-
+    g_assert_null (s3);
   }
 
   {
@@ -376,14 +378,12 @@ test_wpsettings (TestSettingsFixture *self, gconstpointer data)
   }
 
   {
-    g_autoptr (WpSettings) s4 =
-        wp_settings_get_instance (self->base.core, NULL);
+    g_autoptr (WpSettings) s4 = wp_settings_find (self->base.core, NULL);
 
     g_auto (GValue) value = G_VALUE_INIT;
     g_object_get_property (G_OBJECT(s4), "metadata-name", &value);
 
     g_assert_cmpstr (g_value_get_string (&value), ==, "sm-settings");
-
   }
 }