diff --git a/paper-server/src/main/java/org/bukkit/craftbukkit/scoreboard/CraftScoreboard.java b/paper-server/src/main/java/org/bukkit/craftbukkit/scoreboard/CraftScoreboard.java
index 5681630159..c650fc3712 100644
--- a/paper-server/src/main/java/org/bukkit/craftbukkit/scoreboard/CraftScoreboard.java
+++ b/paper-server/src/main/java/org/bukkit/craftbukkit/scoreboard/CraftScoreboard.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import org.bukkit.scoreboard.Team;
 
 public final class CraftScoreboard implements org.bukkit.scoreboard.Scoreboard {
     final Scoreboard board;
+    boolean registeredGlobally = false; // Paper - Lazily track plugin scoreboards by default
 
     CraftScoreboard(Scoreboard board) {
         this.board = board;
@@ -52,6 +53,12 @@ public final class CraftScoreboard implements org.bukkit.scoreboard.Scoreboard {
         Preconditions.checkArgument(renderType != null, "RenderType cannot be null");
         Preconditions.checkArgument(name.length() <= Short.MAX_VALUE, "The name '%s' is longer than the limit of 32767 characters (%s)", name, name.length());
         Preconditions.checkArgument(this.board.getObjective(name) == null, "An objective of name '%s' already exists", name);
+        // Paper start - lazily track plugin scoreboards
+        if (((CraftCriteria) criteria).criteria != net.minecraft.world.scores.criteria.ObjectiveCriteria.DUMMY && !this.registeredGlobally) {
+            net.minecraft.server.MinecraftServer.getServer().server.getScoreboardManager().registerScoreboardForVanilla(this);
+            this.registeredGlobally = true;
+        }
+        // Paper end - lazily track plugin scoreboards
         net.minecraft.world.scores.Objective objective = this.board.addObjective(name, ((CraftCriteria) criteria).criteria, io.papermc.paper.adventure.PaperAdventure.asVanilla(displayName), CraftScoreboardTranslations.fromBukkitRender(renderType), true, null);
         return new CraftObjective(this, objective);
     }
diff --git a/paper-server/src/main/java/org/bukkit/craftbukkit/scoreboard/CraftScoreboardManager.java b/paper-server/src/main/java/org/bukkit/craftbukkit/scoreboard/CraftScoreboardManager.java
index 40e348cae0..c7ca6210d6 100644
--- a/paper-server/src/main/java/org/bukkit/craftbukkit/scoreboard/CraftScoreboardManager.java
+++ b/paper-server/src/main/java/org/bukkit/craftbukkit/scoreboard/CraftScoreboardManager.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ public final class CraftScoreboardManager implements ScoreboardManager {
 
     public CraftScoreboardManager(MinecraftServer minecraftserver, net.minecraft.world.scores.Scoreboard scoreboardServer) {
         this.mainScoreboard = new CraftScoreboard(scoreboardServer);
+        mainScoreboard.registeredGlobally = true; // Paper
         this.server = minecraftserver;
         this.scoreboards.add(this.mainScoreboard);
     }
@@ -43,10 +44,22 @@ public final class CraftScoreboardManager implements ScoreboardManager {
     public CraftScoreboard getNewScoreboard() {
         org.spigotmc.AsyncCatcher.catchOp("scoreboard creation"); // Spigot
         CraftScoreboard scoreboard = new CraftScoreboard(new ServerScoreboard(this.server));
-        this.scoreboards.add(scoreboard);
+        // Paper start
+        if (io.papermc.paper.configuration.GlobalConfiguration.get().scoreboards.trackPluginScoreboards) {
+            scoreboard.registeredGlobally = true;
+            scoreboards.add(scoreboard);
+        }
+        // Paper end
         return scoreboard;
     }
 
+    // Paper start
+    public void registerScoreboardForVanilla(CraftScoreboard scoreboard) {
+        org.spigotmc.AsyncCatcher.catchOp("scoreboard registration");
+        scoreboards.add(scoreboard);
+    }
+    // Paper end
+
     // CraftBukkit method
     public CraftScoreboard getPlayerBoard(CraftPlayer player) {
         CraftScoreboard board = this.playerBoards.get(player);