diff --git a/src/pretix/api/serializers/event.py b/src/pretix/api/serializers/event.py
index e51d8272c..5896f4f87 100644
--- a/src/pretix/api/serializers/event.py
+++ b/src/pretix/api/serializers/event.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError
 from django.db import transaction
 from django.utils.functional import cached_property
@@ -108,7 +109,7 @@ class EventSerializer(I18nAwareModelSerializer):
     @transaction.atomic
     def create(self, validated_data):
         meta_data = validated_data.pop('meta_data', None)
-        plugins = validated_data.pop('plugins', None)
+        plugins = validated_data.pop('plugins', settings.PRETIX_PLUGINS_DEFAULT.split(','))
         event = super().create(validated_data)
 
         # Meta data
@@ -122,6 +123,7 @@ class EventSerializer(I18nAwareModelSerializer):
         # Plugins
         if plugins is not None:
             event.set_active_plugins(plugins)
+        event.save(update_fields=['plugins'])
 
         return event
 
diff --git a/src/tests/api/test_events.py b/src/tests/api/test_events.py
index 32dec2570..32896a79d 100644
--- a/src/tests/api/test_events.py
+++ b/src/tests/api/test_events.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ from decimal import Decimal
 from unittest import mock
 
 import pytest
+from django.conf import settings
 from django_countries.fields import Country
 from pytz import UTC
 
@@ -150,7 +151,6 @@ def test_event_list(token_client, organizer, event):
 def test_event_get(token_client, organizer, event):
     resp = token_client.get('/api/v1/organizers/{}/events/{}/'.format(organizer.slug, event.slug))
     assert resp.status_code == 200
-    print(resp.data)
     assert TEST_EVENT_RES == resp.data
 
 
@@ -183,6 +183,7 @@ def test_event_create(token_client, organizer, event, meta_prop):
     assert organizer.events.get(slug="2030").meta_values.filter(
         property__name=meta_prop.name, value="Conference"
     ).exists()
+    assert organizer.events.get(slug="2030").plugins == settings.PRETIX_PLUGINS_DEFAULT
 
     resp = token_client.post(
         '/api/v1/organizers/{}/events/'.format(organizer.slug),