diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/server/coordinator/CoordinatorDynamicConfig.java b/server/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/server/coordinator/CoordinatorDynamicConfig.java
index 90574780eabe..6e073e678e35 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/server/coordinator/CoordinatorDynamicConfig.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/server/coordinator/CoordinatorDynamicConfig.java
@@ -216,19 +216,29 @@ private static Set<String> parseJsonStringOrArray(Object jsonStringOrArray)
     }
   }
 
-  public static AtomicReference<CoordinatorDynamicConfig> watch(final JacksonConfigManager configManager)
+  /**
+   * Setup a watch on the {@link CoordinatorDynamicConfig} in order to ensure access to the latest stored version of the config.
+   *
+   * Note that the {@link CoordinatorDynamicConfig.Builder} class is used here for serde because that allows clean setting of
+   * defaults for missing configuation keys. Missing configuration keys are common in cases such as the addition of a
+   * new config key in a new Druid version.
+   *
+   * @param configManager {@link JacksonConfigManager } responsible for managing persisted druid configuration content
+   * @return {@link AtomicReference} of {@link CoordinatorDynamicConfig.Builder}
+   */
+  public static AtomicReference<CoordinatorDynamicConfig.Builder> watch(final JacksonConfigManager configManager)
   {
     return configManager.watch(
         CoordinatorDynamicConfig.CONFIG_KEY,
-        CoordinatorDynamicConfig.class,
-        CoordinatorDynamicConfig.builder().build()
+        CoordinatorDynamicConfig.Builder.class,
+        CoordinatorDynamicConfig.builder()
     );
   }
 
   @Nonnull
   public static CoordinatorDynamicConfig current(final JacksonConfigManager configManager)
   {
-    return Preconditions.checkNotNull(watch(configManager).get(), "Got null config from watcher?!");
+    return Preconditions.checkNotNull(watch(configManager).get().build(), "Got null config from watcher?!");
   }
 
   @JsonProperty("millisToWaitBeforeDeleting")
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/server/coordinator/DruidCoordinatorTest.java b/server/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/server/coordinator/DruidCoordinatorTest.java
index 7b2840d0e213..fa7e72289d17 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/server/coordinator/DruidCoordinatorTest.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/server/coordinator/DruidCoordinatorTest.java
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ public void setUp() throws Exception
             EasyMock.anyObject(Class.class),
             EasyMock.anyObject()
         )
-    ).andReturn(new AtomicReference(CoordinatorDynamicConfig.builder().build())).anyTimes();
+    ).andReturn(new AtomicReference(CoordinatorDynamicConfig.builder())).anyTimes();
     EasyMock.expect(
         configManager.watch(
             EasyMock.eq(CoordinatorCompactionConfig.CONFIG_KEY),
@@ -715,6 +715,9 @@ public void testBalancerThreadNumber()
     EasyMock.expect(dynamicConfig.getBalancerComputeThreads()).andReturn(5).times(2);
     EasyMock.expect(dynamicConfig.getBalancerComputeThreads()).andReturn(10).once();
 
+    CoordinatorDynamicConfig.Builder dynamicConfigBuilder = EasyMock.createNiceMock(CoordinatorDynamicConfig.Builder.class);
+    EasyMock.expect(dynamicConfigBuilder.build()).andReturn(dynamicConfig).anyTimes();
+
     JacksonConfigManager configManager = EasyMock.createNiceMock(JacksonConfigManager.class);
     EasyMock.expect(
         configManager.watch(
@@ -722,10 +725,10 @@ public void testBalancerThreadNumber()
             EasyMock.anyObject(Class.class),
             EasyMock.anyObject()
         )
-    ).andReturn(new AtomicReference(dynamicConfig)).anyTimes();
+    ).andReturn(new AtomicReference(dynamicConfigBuilder)).anyTimes();
 
     ScheduledExecutorFactory scheduledExecutorFactory = EasyMock.createNiceMock(ScheduledExecutorFactory.class);
-    EasyMock.replay(configManager, dynamicConfig, scheduledExecutorFactory);
+    EasyMock.replay(configManager, dynamicConfig, scheduledExecutorFactory, dynamicConfigBuilder);
 
     DruidCoordinator c = new DruidCoordinator(
         druidCoordinatorConfig,
@@ -998,7 +1001,7 @@ public void testCoordinatorCustomDutyGroupsRunAsExpected() throws Exception
             EasyMock.anyObject(Class.class),
             EasyMock.anyObject()
         )
-    ).andReturn(new AtomicReference(CoordinatorDynamicConfig.builder().build())).anyTimes();
+    ).andReturn(new AtomicReference(CoordinatorDynamicConfig.builder())).anyTimes();
     EasyMock.expect(
         configManager.watch(
             EasyMock.eq(CoordinatorCompactionConfig.CONFIG_KEY),