diff --git a/library/Icinga/Application/ApplicationBootstrap.php b/library/Icinga/Application/ApplicationBootstrap.php
index c9403db6f3..9066f4482c 100644
--- a/library/Icinga/Application/ApplicationBootstrap.php
+++ b/library/Icinga/Application/ApplicationBootstrap.php
@@ -324,6 +324,21 @@ protected function setupModuleManager()
         return $this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Load all core modules
+     *
+     * @return self
+     */
+    protected function loadCoreModules()
+    {
+        try {
+            $this->moduleManager->loadCoreModules();
+        } catch (NotReadableError $e) {
+            Logger::error(new IcingaException('Cannot load core modules. An exception was thrown:', $e));
+        }
+        return $this;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Load all enabled modules
      *
diff --git a/library/Icinga/Application/EmbeddedWeb.php b/library/Icinga/Application/EmbeddedWeb.php
index 6a160017c5..0dd8b5d5c8 100644
--- a/library/Icinga/Application/EmbeddedWeb.php
+++ b/library/Icinga/Application/EmbeddedWeb.php
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ protected function bootstrap()
             ->setupErrorHandling()
             ->setupTimezone()
             ->setupModuleManager()
+            ->loadCoreModules()
             ->loadEnabledModules();
     }
 }
diff --git a/library/Icinga/Application/Modules/Manager.php b/library/Icinga/Application/Modules/Manager.php
index b2d51a9a5d..984e528d2f 100644
--- a/library/Icinga/Application/Modules/Manager.php
+++ b/library/Icinga/Application/Modules/Manager.php
@@ -67,6 +67,18 @@ class Manager
      */
     private $modulePaths        = array();
 
+    /**
+     * The core modules
+     *
+     * Core modules do not need to be enabled to load and cannot be disabled
+     * by the user. This must not be writable programmatically!
+     *
+     * @var array
+     */
+    private $coreModules = array(
+        'setup'
+    );
+
     /**
      *  Create a new instance of the module manager
      *
@@ -157,7 +169,21 @@ private function detectEnabledModules()
     }
 
     /**
-     * Try to set all enabled modules in loaded sate
+     * Try to set all core modules in loaded state
+     *
+     * @return  self
+     * @see     Manager::loadModule()
+     */
+    public function loadCoreModules()
+    {
+        foreach ($this->coreModules as $name) {
+            $this->loadModule($name);
+        }
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Try to set all enabled modules in loaded state
      *
      * @return  self
      * @see     Manager::loadModule()
@@ -211,6 +237,8 @@ public function enableModule($name)
                 'Cannot enable module "%s". Module is not installed.',
                 $name
             );
+        } elseif (in_array($name, $this->coreModules)) {
+            return $this;
         }
 
         clearstatcache(true);
@@ -427,7 +455,7 @@ public function getModuleInfo()
         }
 
         $installed = $this->listInstalledModules();
-        foreach ($installed as $name) {
+        foreach (array_diff($installed, $this->coreModules) as $name) {
             $info[$name] = (object) array(
                 'name'    => $name,
                 'path'    => $this->installedBaseDirs[$name],
diff --git a/library/Icinga/Application/Web.php b/library/Icinga/Application/Web.php
index d43b1d34d9..23b0634a03 100644
--- a/library/Icinga/Application/Web.php
+++ b/library/Icinga/Application/Web.php
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ protected function bootstrap()
             ->setupZendMvc()
             ->setupFormNamespace()
             ->setupModuleManager()
+            ->loadCoreModules()
             ->loadEnabledModules()
             ->setupRoute()
             ->setupPagination();
diff --git a/modules/translation/library/Translation/Util/GettextTranslationHelper.php b/modules/translation/library/Translation/Util/GettextTranslationHelper.php
index 5702def85b..0d5a950e17 100644
--- a/modules/translation/library/Translation/Util/GettextTranslationHelper.php
+++ b/modules/translation/library/Translation/Util/GettextTranslationHelper.php
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ class GettextTranslationHelper
      */
     public function __construct(ApplicationBootstrap $bootstrap, $locale)
     {
-        $this->moduleMgr = $bootstrap->getModuleManager()->loadEnabledModules();
+        $this->moduleMgr = $bootstrap->getModuleManager()->loadCoreModules()->loadEnabledModules();
         $this->appDir = $bootstrap->getApplicationDir();
         $this->locale = $locale;
     }