diff --git a/plugins/inputs/vsphere/endpoint.go b/plugins/inputs/vsphere/endpoint.go
index 98b308dfc..fa1950193 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/vsphere/endpoint.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/vsphere/endpoint.go
@@ -286,20 +286,8 @@ func (e *Endpoint) init(ctx context.Context) error {
 	}
 
 	if e.Parent.ObjectDiscoveryInterval.Duration > 0 {
-
-		// Run an initial discovery. If force_discovery_on_init isn't set, we kick it off as a
-		// goroutine without waiting for it. This will probably cause us to report an empty
-		// dataset on the first collection, but it solves the issue of the first collection timing out.
-		if e.Parent.ForceDiscoverOnInit {
-			e.Parent.Log.Debug("Running initial discovery and waiting for it to finish")
-			e.initalDiscovery(ctx)
-		} else {
-			// Otherwise, just run it in the background. We'll probably have an incomplete first metric
-			// collection this way.
-			go func() {
-				e.initalDiscovery(ctx)
-			}()
-		}
+		e.Parent.Log.Debug("Running initial discovery")
+		e.initalDiscovery(ctx)
 	}
 	e.initialized = true
 	return nil
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/vsphere/vsphere.go b/plugins/inputs/vsphere/vsphere.go
index 176d55010..e4f572153 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/vsphere/vsphere.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/vsphere/vsphere.go
@@ -195,11 +195,6 @@ var sampleConfig = `
   # collect_concurrency = 1
   # discover_concurrency = 1
 
-  ## whether or not to force discovery of new objects on initial gather call before collecting metrics
-  ## when true for large environments this may cause errors for time elapsed while collecting metrics
-  ## when false (default) the first collection cycle may result in no or limited metrics while objects are discovered
-  # force_discover_on_init = false
-
   ## the interval before (re)discovering objects subject to metrics collection (default: 300s)
   # object_discovery_interval = "300s"
 
@@ -248,6 +243,11 @@ func (v *VSphere) Start(acc telegraf.Accumulator) error {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
 	v.cancel = cancel
 
+	// Check for deprecated settings
+	if !v.ForceDiscoverOnInit {
+		v.Log.Warn("The 'force_discover_on_init' configuration parameter has been deprecated. Setting it to 'false' has no effect")
+	}
+
 	// Create endpoints, one for each vCenter we're monitoring
 	v.endpoints = make([]*Endpoint, len(v.Vcenters))
 	for i, rawURL := range v.Vcenters {
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ func init() {
 			MaxQueryMetrics:         256,
 			CollectConcurrency:      1,
 			DiscoverConcurrency:     1,
-			ForceDiscoverOnInit:     false,
+			ForceDiscoverOnInit:     true,
 			ObjectDiscoveryInterval: internal.Duration{Duration: time.Second * 300},
 			Timeout:                 internal.Duration{Duration: time.Second * 60},
 		}