diff --git a/plugins/org.jkiss.dbeaver.registry/src/org/jkiss/dbeaver/registry/DataSourceConfigurationManagerNIO.java b/plugins/org.jkiss.dbeaver.registry/src/org/jkiss/dbeaver/registry/DataSourceConfigurationManagerNIO.java
index 5bec89875b14..5e1e4f1fe07c 100644
--- a/plugins/org.jkiss.dbeaver.registry/src/org/jkiss/dbeaver/registry/DataSourceConfigurationManagerNIO.java
+++ b/plugins/org.jkiss.dbeaver.registry/src/org/jkiss/dbeaver/registry/DataSourceConfigurationManagerNIO.java
@@ -111,7 +111,11 @@ public List<DBPDataSourceConfigurationStorage> getConfigurationStorages() {
     @Override
     public InputStream readConfiguration(@NotNull String name) throws IOException {
         Path path = getConfigurationPath(false).resolve(name);
-        if (!Files.exists(path)) {
+        if (Files.notExists(path)) {
+            // maybe it's .dbeaver-data-sources*.xml in the project folder (DBeaver < 6.1.3 (Legacy))
+            path = project.getAbsolutePath().resolve(name);
+        }
+        if (Files.notExists(path)) {
             return null;
         }
         return Files.newInputStream(path);
diff --git a/plugins/org.jkiss.dbeaver.registry/src/org/jkiss/dbeaver/registry/DataSourceRegistry.java b/plugins/org.jkiss.dbeaver.registry/src/org/jkiss/dbeaver/registry/DataSourceRegistry.java
index b081da8a9d7d..da78a3af533c 100644
--- a/plugins/org.jkiss.dbeaver.registry/src/org/jkiss/dbeaver/registry/DataSourceRegistry.java
+++ b/plugins/org.jkiss.dbeaver.registry/src/org/jkiss/dbeaver/registry/DataSourceRegistry.java
@@ -46,7 +46,10 @@
 import org.jkiss.utils.ArrayUtils;
 import org.jkiss.utils.CommonUtils;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.util.*;
 import java.util.function.Predicate;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
@@ -170,7 +173,16 @@ DBPDataSourceConfigurationStorage getDefaultStorage() {
                 }
             }
             // No default storage. Seems to be an internal error
-            throw new IllegalStateException("no default storage in registry " + this);
+            log.warn("no default storage in registry " + this);
+            try {
+                java.nio.file.Path configPath = this.getProject().getMetadataFolder(false).resolve(MODERN_CONFIG_FILE_NAME);
+                Files.createFile(configPath);
+                DBPDataSourceConfigurationStorage defaultStorage = new DataSourceFileStorage(configPath, false, true);
+                this.storages.add(defaultStorage);
+                return defaultStorage;
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                throw new IllegalStateException("Unable to create a default storage in registry " + this, e);
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/plugins/org.jkiss.dbeaver.registry/src/org/jkiss/dbeaver/registry/DataSourceSerializerModern.java b/plugins/org.jkiss.dbeaver.registry/src/org/jkiss/dbeaver/registry/DataSourceSerializerModern.java
index e8fa5a3d49d2..991c78c93100 100644
--- a/plugins/org.jkiss.dbeaver.registry/src/org/jkiss/dbeaver/registry/DataSourceSerializerModern.java
+++ b/plugins/org.jkiss.dbeaver.registry/src/org/jkiss/dbeaver/registry/DataSourceSerializerModern.java
@@ -363,7 +363,9 @@ public void parseDataSources(
                         credJson,
                         new TypeToken<Map<String, Map<String, Map<String, String>>>>() {
                         }.getType());
-                    secureProperties.putAll(res);
+                    if (res != null) {
+                        secureProperties.putAll(res);
+                    }
                 } catch (Exception e) {
                     log.error("Error decrypting secure credentials", e);
                 }
@@ -526,7 +528,7 @@ public void parseDataSources(
                     }
                     dataSource = new DataSourceDescriptor(
                         registry,
-                        registry.getDefaultStorage(),
+                        configurationStorage,
                         origin,
                         id,
                         driver,