diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/PluginSettingsBase.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/PluginSettingsBase.php
index d57434f..b5aeff7 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/PluginSettingsBase.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/PluginSettingsBase.php
@@ -52,8 +52,8 @@ public function getSettings() {
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function getSetting($key) {
-    // Merge defaults if that has not been done before.
-    if (!$this->defaultSettingsMerged) {
+    // Merge defaults if we have no value for the key.
+    if (!$this->defaultSettingsMerged && !array_key_exists($key, $this->settings)) {
       $this->mergeDefaults();
     }
     return isset($this->settings[$key]) ? $this->settings[$key] : NULL;
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ public function getSetting($key) {
    */
   protected function mergeDefaults() {
     // Use only settings defined by plugin.
-    $this->settings = array_intersect_key($this->settings, static::defaultSettings()) + static::defaultSettings();
+    $this->settings += static::defaultSettings();
     $this->defaultSettingsMerged = TRUE;
   }
 
diff --git a/core/modules/entity_reference/lib/Drupal/entity_reference/ConfigurableEntityReferenceItem.php b/core/modules/entity_reference/lib/Drupal/entity_reference/ConfigurableEntityReferenceItem.php
index 8c43040..91092f3 100644
--- a/core/modules/entity_reference/lib/Drupal/entity_reference/ConfigurableEntityReferenceItem.php
+++ b/core/modules/entity_reference/lib/Drupal/entity_reference/ConfigurableEntityReferenceItem.php
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ class ConfigurableEntityReferenceItem extends EntityReferenceItem implements All
    */
   public static function defaultSettings() {
     $settings = parent::defaultSettings();
-    // The instance settings 'handler_settings.target_bundles' used for this.
+    // The target bundle is handled by the 'target_bundles' property in the
+    // 'handler_settings' instance setting.
     unset($settings['target_bundle']);
     return $settings;
   }
diff --git a/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Entity/FieldConfig.php b/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Entity/FieldConfig.php
index eed3000..d3b74cc 100644
--- a/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Entity/FieldConfig.php
+++ b/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Entity/FieldConfig.php
@@ -295,6 +295,7 @@ public function preSave(EntityStorageControllerInterface $storage_controller) {
    */
    protected function preSaveNew(EntityStorageControllerInterface $storage_controller) {
     $entity_manager = \Drupal::entityManager();
+    $field_type_manager = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.field_type');
 
     // Assign the ID.
     $this->id = $this->id();
@@ -318,7 +319,7 @@ protected function preSaveNew(EntityStorageControllerInterface $storage_controll
     }
 
     // Check that the field type is known.
-    $field_type = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.field_type')->getDefinition($this->type);
+    $field_type = $field_type_manager->getDefinition($this->type);
     if (!$field_type) {
       throw new FieldException(format_string('Attempt to create a field of unknown type %type.', array('%type' => $this->type)));
     }
@@ -326,9 +327,7 @@ protected function preSaveNew(EntityStorageControllerInterface $storage_controll
 
     // Make sure all settings are present, so that a complete field
     // definition is passed to the various hooks and written to config.
-     if (isset($field_type['class'])) {
-       $this->settings += $field_type['class']::defaultSettings();
-     }
+     $this->settings += $field_type_manager->getDefaultSettings($this->type);
 
     // Notify the entity storage controller.
     $entity_manager->getStorageController($this->entity_type)->onFieldCreate($this);
@@ -526,14 +525,10 @@ public function getSettings() {
     //   some CPU and memory profiling to see if it's worth statically caching
     //   $field_type_info, or the default field and instance settings, within
     //   $this.
-    $field_type_info = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.field_type')->getDefinition($this->type);
+    $field_type_manager = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.field_type');
 
-    $settings = array();
-    $instance_settings = array();
-    if (isset($field_type_info['class'])) {
-      $settings = $field_type_info['class']::defaultSettings();
-      $instance_settings = $field_type_info['class']::defaultInstanceSettings();
-    }
+    $settings = $field_type_manager->getDefaultSettings($this->type);
+    $instance_settings = $field_type_manager->getDefaultInstanceSettings($this->type);
     return $this->settings + $settings + $instance_settings;
   }
 
@@ -542,8 +537,8 @@ public function getSettings() {
    */
   public function getSetting($setting_name) {
     // @todo See getSettings() about potentially statically caching this.
-    // We assume here that consecutive array_key_exists() is more efficient than
-    // calling getSettings() when all we need is a single setting.
+    // We assume here that one call to array_key_exists() is more efficient
+    // than calling getSettings() when all we need is a single setting.
     if (array_key_exists($setting_name, $this->settings)) {
       return $this->settings[$setting_name];
     }
diff --git a/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Tests/CrudTest.php b/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Tests/CrudTest.php
index 257d20b..36a2770 100644
--- a/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Tests/CrudTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Tests/CrudTest.php
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ function testCreateField() {
     $this->assertEqual($field_config['cardinality'], 1, 'Cardinality defaults to 1.');
 
     // Ensure that default settings are present.
-    $field_type = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.field_type')->getDefinition($field_definition['type']);
-    $this->assertEqual($field_config['settings'], $field_type['class']::defaultSettings(), 'Default field settings have been written.');
+    $field_type_manager = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.field_type');
+    $this->assertEqual($field_config['settings'], $field_type_manager->getDefaultSettings($field_definition['type']), 'Default field settings have been written.');
 
     // Guarantee that the name is unique.
     try {
diff --git a/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Tests/FieldInfoTest.php b/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Tests/FieldInfoTest.php
index 20ec766..3f2e116 100644
--- a/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Tests/FieldInfoTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Tests/FieldInfoTest.php
@@ -133,8 +133,8 @@ function testFieldPrepare() {
     $field = field_info_field('entity_test', $field_definition['name']);
 
     // Check that all expected settings are in place.
-    $field_type = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.field_type')->getDefinition($field_definition['type']);
-    $this->assertEqual($field->settings, $field_type['class']::defaultSettings(), 'All expected default field settings are present.');
+    $field_type_manager = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.field_type');
+    $this->assertEqual($field->settings, $field_type_manager->getDefaultSettings($field_definition['type']), 'All expected default field settings are present.');
   }
 
   /**
@@ -167,8 +167,8 @@ function testInstancePrepare() {
     $instance = field_info_instance($instance_definition['entity_type'], $instance_definition['field_name'], $instance_definition['bundle']);
 
     // Check that all expected instance settings are in place.
-    $field_type = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.field_type')->getDefinition($field_definition['type']);
-    $this->assertEqual($instance->settings, $field_type['class']::defaultInstanceSettings() , 'All expected instance settings are present.');
+    $field_type_manager = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.field_type');
+    $this->assertEqual($instance->settings, $field_type_manager->getDefaultInstanceSettings($field_definition['type']) , 'All expected instance settings are present.');
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Tests/FieldInstanceCrudTest.php b/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Tests/FieldInstanceCrudTest.php
index 9f5ff65..19851fb 100644
--- a/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Tests/FieldInstanceCrudTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/field/lib/Drupal/field/Tests/FieldInstanceCrudTest.php
@@ -75,8 +75,7 @@ function testCreateFieldInstance() {
     // the loaded ConfigEntity, to be sure we check that the defaults are
     // applied on write.
     $config = \Drupal::config('field.instance.' . $instance->id())->get();
-
-    $field_type = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.field_type')->getDefinition($this->field_definition['type']);
+    $field_type_manager = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.field_type');
 
     // Check that default values are set.
     $this->assertEqual($config['required'], FALSE, 'Required defaults to false.');
@@ -84,7 +83,7 @@ function testCreateFieldInstance() {
     $this->assertIdentical($config['description'], '', 'Description defaults to empty string.');
 
     // Check that default settings are set.
-    $this->assertEqual($config['settings'], $field_type['class']::defaultInstanceSettings() , 'Default instance settings have been written.');
+    $this->assertEqual($config['settings'], $field_type_manager->getDefaultInstanceSettings($this->field_definition['type']) , 'Default instance settings have been written.');
 
     // Guarantee that the field/bundle combination is unique.
     try {
diff --git a/core/modules/field_ui/lib/Drupal/field_ui/DisplayOverviewBase.php b/core/modules/field_ui/lib/Drupal/field_ui/DisplayOverviewBase.php
index b0e66e3..2deca15 100644
--- a/core/modules/field_ui/lib/Drupal/field_ui/DisplayOverviewBase.php
+++ b/core/modules/field_ui/lib/Drupal/field_ui/DisplayOverviewBase.php
@@ -399,7 +399,7 @@ protected function buildFieldRow(FieldDefinitionInterface $field_definition, Ent
         }
 
         // Check selected plugin settings to display edit link or not.
-        if ($plugin::defaultSettings()) {
+        if ($this->pluginManager->getDefaultSettings($display_options['type'])) {
           $field_row['settings_edit'] = $base_button + array(
             '#type' => 'image_button',
             '#name' => $field_name . '_settings_edit',
diff --git a/core/modules/field_ui/lib/Drupal/field_ui/Tests/ManageDisplayTest.php b/core/modules/field_ui/lib/Drupal/field_ui/Tests/ManageDisplayTest.php
index 5699ed9..1b8c16d 100644
--- a/core/modules/field_ui/lib/Drupal/field_ui/Tests/ManageDisplayTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/field_ui/lib/Drupal/field_ui/Tests/ManageDisplayTest.php
@@ -225,8 +225,9 @@ function testViewModeCustom() {
     $node = $this->drupalCreateNode($settings);
 
     // Gather expected output values with the various formatters.
-    $field_test_default_settings = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.formatter')->getDefaultSettings('field_test_default');
-    $field_test_with_prepare_view_settings = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.formatter')->getDefaultSettings('field_test_with_prepare_view');
+    $formatter_plugin_manager = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.field.formatter');
+    $field_test_default_settings = $formatter_plugin_manager->getDefaultSettings('field_test_default');
+    $field_test_with_prepare_view_settings = $formatter_plugin_manager->getDefaultSettings('field_test_with_prepare_view');
     $output = array(
       'field_test_default' => $field_test_default_settings['test_formatter_setting'] . '|' . $value,
       'field_test_with_prepare_view' => $field_test_with_prepare_view_settings['test_formatter_setting_additional'] . '|' . $value. '|' . ($value + 1),