wallet: make loading the wallet after migrating optional

diff --git a/src/wallet/wallet.cpp b/src/wallet/wallet.cpp
index c84effe7..e64b27a6 100644
--- a/src/wallet/wallet.cpp
+++ b/src/wallet/wallet.cpp
@@ -109,7 +109,14 @@ bool AddWalletSetting(interfaces::Chain& chain, const std::string& wallet_name)
 bool RemoveWalletSetting(interfaces::Chain& chain, const std::string& wallet_name)
 {
     const auto update_function = [&wallet_name](common::SettingsValue& setting_value) {
-        if (!setting_value.isArray()) return interfaces::SettingsAction::SKIP_WRITE;
+        if (!setting_value.isArray()) {
+            if (wallet_name.empty() && setting_value.isNull()) {
+                // Empty setting suppresses backwards-compatible default wallet autoload.
+                setting_value.setArray();
+                return interfaces::SettingsAction::WRITE;
+            }
+            return interfaces::SettingsAction::SKIP_WRITE;
+        }
         common::SettingsValue new_value(common::SettingsValue::VARR);
         for (const auto& value : setting_value.getValues()) {
             if (!value.isStr() || value.get_str() != wallet_name) new_value.push_back(value);
@@ -4177,7 +4184,7 @@ static std::string MigrationPrefixName(CWallet& wallet)
     return name.empty() ? "default_wallet" : name;
 }
 
-bool DoMigration(CWallet& wallet, WalletContext& context, bilingual_str& error, MigrationResult& res) EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED(wallet.cs_wallet)
+bool DoMigration(CWallet& wallet, WalletContext& context, bilingual_str& error, MigrationResult& res, const bool load_on_startup = true) EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED(wallet.cs_wallet)
 {
     AssertLockHeld(wallet.cs_wallet);
 
@@ -4240,7 +4247,7 @@ bool DoMigration(CWallet& wallet, WalletContext& context, bilingual_str& error,
             }
 
             // Add the wallet to settings
-            UpdateWalletSetting(*context.chain, wallet_name, /*load_on_startup=*/true, warnings);
+            UpdateWalletSetting(*context.chain, wallet_name, load_on_startup, warnings);
         }
         if (data->solvable_descs.size() > 0) {
             wallet.WalletLogPrintf("Making a new watchonly wallet containing the unwatched solvable scripts\n");
@@ -4279,7 +4286,7 @@ bool DoMigration(CWallet& wallet, WalletContext& context, bilingual_str& error,
             }
 
             // Add the wallet to settings
-            UpdateWalletSetting(*context.chain, wallet_name, /*load_on_startup=*/true, warnings);
+            UpdateWalletSetting(*context.chain, wallet_name, load_on_startup, warnings);
         }
     }
 
@@ -4294,7 +4301,7 @@ bool DoMigration(CWallet& wallet, WalletContext& context, bilingual_str& error,
     });
 }
 
-util::Result<MigrationResult> MigrateLegacyToDescriptor(const std::string& wallet_name, const SecureString& passphrase, WalletContext& context)
+util::Result<MigrationResult> MigrateLegacyToDescriptor(const std::string& wallet_name, const SecureString& passphrase, WalletContext& context, bool load_wallet)
 {
     std::vector<bilingual_str> warnings;
     bilingual_str error;
@@ -4336,10 +4343,10 @@ util::Result<MigrationResult> MigrateLegacyToDescriptor(const std::string& walle
         return util::Error{Untranslated("Wallet loading failed.") + Untranslated(" ") + error};
     }
 
-    return MigrateLegacyToDescriptor(std::move(local_wallet), passphrase, context);
+    return MigrateLegacyToDescriptor(std::move(local_wallet), passphrase, context, load_wallet);
 }
 
-util::Result<MigrationResult> MigrateLegacyToDescriptor(std::shared_ptr<CWallet> local_wallet, const SecureString& passphrase, WalletContext& context)
+util::Result<MigrationResult> MigrateLegacyToDescriptor(std::shared_ptr<CWallet> local_wallet, const SecureString& passphrase, WalletContext& context, bool load_wallet)
 {
     MigrationResult res;
     bilingual_str error;
@@ -4405,7 +4412,7 @@ util::Result<MigrationResult> MigrateLegacyToDescriptor(std::shared_ptr<CWallet>
 
         // Do the migration of keys and scripts for non-empty wallets, and cleanup if it fails
         if (HasLegacyRecords(*local_wallet)) {
-            success = DoMigration(*local_wallet, context, error, res);
+            success = DoMigration(*local_wallet, context, error, res, load_wallet);
             // No scripts mean empty wallet after migration
             empty_local_wallet = local_wallet->GetAllScriptPubKeyMans().empty();
         } else {
@@ -4447,30 +4454,37 @@ util::Result<MigrationResult> MigrateLegacyToDescriptor(std::shared_ptr<CWallet>
             for (const auto& path_to_remove : paths_to_remove) fs::remove(path_to_remove);
         }
 
-        LogInfo("Loading new wallets after migration...\n");
-        // Migration successful, load all the migrated wallets.
+        if (load_wallet) {
+            LogInfo("Loading new wallets after migration...\n");
+            /** We only override the load_on_startup setting in case the user explicitly said
+             * that he does not want to load the wallet, otherwise keep the old wallet configuration */
+        } else {
+            UpdateWalletSetting(*context.chain, wallet_name, /*load_on_startup=*/false, warnings);
+        }
+        // Migration successful, if load_wallet is set load all the migrated wallets.
         bool main_wallet_set{false};
         for (std::shared_ptr<CWallet>* wallet_ptr : {&local_wallet, &res.watchonly_wallet, &res.solvables_wallet}) {
             if (success && *wallet_ptr) {
                 std::shared_ptr<CWallet>& wallet = *wallet_ptr;
-                // Track db path and load wallet
+                // Track db path
                 track_for_cleanup(*wallet);
                 assert(wallet.use_count() == 1);
                 std::string wallet_name = wallet->GetName();
                 wallet.reset();
-                wallet = LoadWallet(context, wallet_name, /*load_on_start=*/std::nullopt, options, status, error, warnings);
-                if (!wallet) {
-                    LogError("Failed to load wallet '%s' after migration. Rolling back migration to preserve consistency. "
-                             "Error cause: %s\n", wallet_name, error.original);
-                    success = false;
-                    break;
+                if (load_wallet) {
+                    wallet = LoadWallet(context, wallet_name, /*load_on_start=*/std::nullopt, options, status, error, warnings);
+                    if (!wallet) {
+                        LogError("Failed to load wallet '%s' after migration. Rolling back migration to preserve consistency. "
+                                 "Error cause: %s\n", wallet_name, error.original);
+                        success = false;
+                        break;
+                    }
                 }
-
-                // Set the first successfully loaded wallet as the main one.
+                // Set the first wallet as the main one.
                 // The loop order is intentional and must always start with the local wallet.
                 if (!main_wallet_set) {
                     res.wallet_name = wallet_name;
-                    res.wallet = std::move(wallet);
+                    if (load_wallet) res.wallet = std::move(wallet);
                     main_wallet_set = true;
                 }
                 if (wallet_ptr == &res.watchonly_wallet) {
diff --git a/src/wallet/wallet.h b/src/wallet/wallet.h
index b964846f..dfd52c1d 100644
--- a/src/wallet/wallet.h
+++ b/src/wallet/wallet.h
@@ -1143,9 +1143,9 @@ struct MigrationResult {
 };
 
 //! Do all steps to migrate a legacy wallet to a descriptor wallet
-[[nodiscard]] util::Result<MigrationResult> MigrateLegacyToDescriptor(const std::string& wallet_name, const SecureString& passphrase, WalletContext& context);
+[[nodiscard]] util::Result<MigrationResult> MigrateLegacyToDescriptor(const std::string& wallet_name, const SecureString& passphrase, WalletContext& context, bool load_wallet = true);
 //! Requirement: The wallet provided to this function must be isolated, with no attachment to the node's context.
-[[nodiscard]] util::Result<MigrationResult> MigrateLegacyToDescriptor(std::shared_ptr<CWallet> local_wallet, const SecureString& passphrase, WalletContext& context);
+[[nodiscard]] util::Result<MigrationResult> MigrateLegacyToDescriptor(std::shared_ptr<CWallet> local_wallet, const SecureString& passphrase, WalletContext& context, bool load_wallet = true);
 
 //! Determine the path that the wallet is stored in
 util::Result<fs::path> GetWalletPath(const std::string& name);