diff --git a/include/admin/plugins.inc.php b/include/admin/plugins.inc.php
index 3abf3860..5afdcb22 100644
--- a/include/admin/plugins.inc.php
+++ b/include/admin/plugins.inc.php
@@ -282,12 +282,6 @@ if (isset($_GET['serendipity']['plugin_to_conf'])) {
     /* get sidebar locations */
     serendipity_smarty_init();
 
-    if (isset($template_config['sidebars'])) {
-        // we save the sidebars set by the template here, because serendipity_loadThemeOption
-        // will otherwise overwrite it, since the move to a separate backend
-        $sidebars = $template_config['sidebars'][0];
-    }
-
     if (is_array($template_config)) {
         $template_vars =& serendipity_loadThemeOptions($template_config);
     }
@@ -297,10 +291,6 @@ if (isset($_GET['serendipity']['plugin_to_conf'])) {
         'eventh_col' => 'eventh'
     );
 
-    if ((! isset($template_vars['sidebars'])) && isset($sidebars)) {
-        $template_vars['sidebars'] = $sidebars;
-    }
-
     if (isset($template_vars['sidebars'])) {
         $sidebars = explode(',', $template_vars['sidebars']);
     } elseif (isset($serendipity['sidebars'])) {
diff --git a/include/functions_smarty.inc.php b/include/functions_smarty.inc.php
index 0fb27983..8653979c 100644
--- a/include/functions_smarty.inc.php
+++ b/include/functions_smarty.inc.php
@@ -880,7 +880,7 @@ function serendipity_smarty_init($vars = array()) {
             include_once $template_dir . '/template.inc.php';
         } else {
 
-            // Backend template overwritten here (NOT earlier due to frontend specific check
+            // Backend template overwritten here (NOT earlier due to frontend specific check)
             if (defined('IN_serendipity_admin')) {
                 $template_dir = $serendipity['serendipityPath'] . $serendipity['templatePath'] . $serendipity['template_backend'];
             }
@@ -1068,6 +1068,13 @@ function serendipity_smarty_init($vars = array()) {
             }
         }
 
+        // FIRST: Load config of the currently configured FRONTEND template. We might actually need this in the backend (sidebar configuration, IPTC options, some others).
+        // SECOND: Load config of the currently set template, which can also be the BACKEND template, or be the same as before. include_once takes care of only including the file once.
+        $config =  $serendipity['serendipityPath'] . $serendipity['templatePath'] . $serendipity['template'] . '/config.inc.php';
+        if (file_exists($config)) {
+            include_once $config;
+        }
+
         $config = $serendipity['smarty']->getConfigDir(0) . '/config.inc.php';
         if (file_exists($config)) {
             include_once $config;