diff --git a/src/learner.cc b/src/learner.cc
index b2f962894..ef5c62458 100644
--- a/src/learner.cc
+++ b/src/learner.cc
@@ -731,7 +731,7 @@ class LearnerIO : public LearnerConfiguration {
       tparam_.dsplit = DataSplitMode::kRow;
     }
 
-    this->Configure();
+    this->need_configuration_ = true;
   }
 
   // Save model into binary format.  The code is about to be deprecated by more robust