diff --git a/core/src/global/config.ts b/core/src/global/config.ts
index ff9009d0fb..aaf69a5327 100644
--- a/core/src/global/config.ts
+++ b/core/src/global/config.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ export interface IonicConfig {
    * Possible values are: `"ios"` or `"md"`.
    */
   mode?: Mode;
-  _persist?: boolean;
+  persistConfig?: boolean;
 
   isDevice?: boolean;
   statusbarPadding?: boolean;
diff --git a/core/src/global/ionic-global.ts b/core/src/global/ionic-global.ts
index 3a2da20fb5..8dad425f2b 100644
--- a/core/src/global/ionic-global.ts
+++ b/core/src/global/ionic-global.ts
@@ -17,12 +17,13 @@ Object.defineProperty(Ionic, 'queue', {
 // create the Ionic.config from raw config object (if it exists)
 // and convert Ionic.config into a ConfigApi that has a get() fn
 const configObj = {
-  ...Ionic['config'],
   ...configFromSession(),
+  persistConfig: false,
+  ...Ionic['config'],
   ...configFromURL()
 };
 const config = Ionic['config'] = Context['config'] = new Config(configObj);
-if (config.getBoolean('_persist', false)) {
+if (config.getBoolean('persistConfig')) {
   saveConfig(configObj);
 }