diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/leveldb/LeveldbJournal.scala b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/leveldb/LeveldbJournal.scala
index a6e8c3b3e2..75b932f45d 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/leveldb/LeveldbJournal.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/leveldb/LeveldbJournal.scala
@@ -20,9 +20,15 @@ import com.typesafe.config.Config
  *
  * Journal backed by a local LevelDB store. For production use.
  */
-private[persistence] class LeveldbJournal(val config: Config) extends AsyncWriteJournal with LeveldbStore {
+private[persistence] class LeveldbJournal(cfg: Config) extends AsyncWriteJournal with LeveldbStore {
   import LeveldbJournal._
 
+  def this() = this(LeveldbStore.emptyConfig)
+
+  override def prepareConfig: Config =
+    if (cfg ne LeveldbStore.emptyConfig) cfg
+    else context.system.settings.config.getConfig("akka.persistence.journal.leveldb")
+
   override def receivePluginInternal: Receive = {
     case r @ ReplayTaggedMessages(fromSequenceNr, toSequenceNr, max, tag, replyTo) ⇒
       import context.dispatcher
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/leveldb/LeveldbStore.scala b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/leveldb/LeveldbStore.scala
index d9e0533d5b..d9b5d23a3e 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/leveldb/LeveldbStore.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/leveldb/LeveldbStore.scala
@@ -6,25 +6,33 @@
 package akka.persistence.journal.leveldb
 
 import java.io.File
+
 import scala.collection.mutable
 import akka.actor._
 import akka.persistence._
 import akka.persistence.journal.WriteJournalBase
 import akka.serialization.SerializationExtension
 import org.iq80.leveldb._
+
 import scala.collection.immutable
 import scala.util._
 import scala.concurrent.Future
 import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 import akka.persistence.journal.Tagged
-import com.typesafe.config.Config
+import com.typesafe.config.{ Config, ConfigFactory }
+
+private[persistence] object LeveldbStore {
+  val emptyConfig = ConfigFactory.empty()
+}
 
 /**
  * INTERNAL API.
  */
 private[persistence] trait LeveldbStore extends Actor with WriteJournalBase with LeveldbIdMapping with LeveldbRecovery {
 
-  val config: Config
+  def prepareConfig: Config
+
+  val config: Config = prepareConfig
   val nativeLeveldb = config.getBoolean("native")
 
   val leveldbOptions = new Options().createIfMissing(true)
diff --git a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/leveldb/SharedLeveldbStore.scala b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/leveldb/SharedLeveldbStore.scala
index d4f260da50..9c695c89ad 100644
--- a/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/leveldb/SharedLeveldbStore.scala
+++ b/akka-persistence/src/main/scala/akka/persistence/journal/leveldb/SharedLeveldbStore.scala
@@ -18,10 +18,16 @@ import scala.concurrent.Future
  * set for each actor system that uses the store via `SharedLeveldbJournal.setStore`. The
  * shared LevelDB store is for testing only.
  */
-class SharedLeveldbStore(cfg: Config) extends { override val config = cfg.getConfig("store") } with LeveldbStore {
+class SharedLeveldbStore(cfg: Config) extends LeveldbStore {
   import AsyncWriteTarget._
   import context.dispatcher
 
+  def this() = this(LeveldbStore.emptyConfig)
+
+  override def prepareConfig: Config =
+    if (cfg ne LeveldbStore.emptyConfig) cfg.getConfig("store")
+    else context.system.settings.config.getConfig("akka.persistence.journal.leveldb-shared.store")
+
   def receive = {
     case WriteMessages(messages) ⇒
       // TODO it would be nice to DRY this with AsyncWriteJournal, but this is using
diff --git a/project/MiMa.scala b/project/MiMa.scala
index 69a8fc038a..caf542f1f3 100644
--- a/project/MiMa.scala
+++ b/project/MiMa.scala
@@ -633,9 +633,8 @@ object MiMa extends AutoPlugin {
         ProblemFilters.exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("akka.persistence.snapshot.local.LocalSnapshotStore.this"),
         ProblemFilters.exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("akka.persistence.journal.leveldb.LeveldbStore.configPath"),
         ProblemFilters.exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("akka.persistence.journal.leveldb.LeveldbJournal.configPath"),
-        ProblemFilters.exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("akka.persistence.journal.leveldb.LeveldbJournal.this"),
         ProblemFilters.exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("akka.persistence.journal.leveldb.SharedLeveldbStore.configPath"),
-        ProblemFilters.exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("akka.persistence.journal.leveldb.SharedLeveldbStore.this"),
+        ProblemFilters.exclude[ReversedMissingMethodProblem]("akka.persistence.journal.leveldb.LeveldbStore.prepareConfig"),
 
         // #20737 aligned test sink and test source stage factory methods types
         ProblemFilters.exclude[IncompatibleResultTypeProblem]("akka.stream.testkit.TestSinkStage.apply"),