diff --git a/src/plugins/autotest/autotestplugin.cpp b/src/plugins/autotest/autotestplugin.cpp
index 9e01a295ced..bf0b3e70197 100644
--- a/src/plugins/autotest/autotestplugin.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/autotest/autotestplugin.cpp
@@ -118,6 +118,8 @@ AutotestPlugin::AutotestPlugin()
     qRegisterMetaType<TestResult>();
     qRegisterMetaType<TestTreeItem *>();
     qRegisterMetaType<TestCodeLocationAndType>();
+    // warm up meta type system to be able to read Qt::CheckState with persistent settings
+    qRegisterMetaType<Qt::CheckState>();
 }
 
 AutotestPlugin::~AutotestPlugin()
diff --git a/src/plugins/autotest/itemdatacache.h b/src/plugins/autotest/itemdatacache.h
index ae5569075b6..6db21388421 100644
--- a/src/plugins/autotest/itemdatacache.h
+++ b/src/plugins/autotest/itemdatacache.h
@@ -58,15 +58,15 @@ public:
     void clear() { m_cache.clear(); }
     bool isEmpty() const { return m_cache.isEmpty(); }
 
-    QVariantHash toSettings() const
+    QVariantMap toSettings() const
     {
-        QVariantHash result;
+        QVariantMap result;
         for (auto it = m_cache.cbegin(), end = m_cache.cend(); it != end; ++it)
             result.insert(it.key(), QVariant::fromValue(it.value().value));
         return result;
     }
 
-    void fromSettings(const QVariantHash &stored)
+    void fromSettings(const QVariantMap &stored)
     {
         m_cache.clear();
         for (auto it = stored.cbegin(), end = stored.cend(); it != end; ++it)
diff --git a/src/plugins/autotest/testprojectsettings.cpp b/src/plugins/autotest/testprojectsettings.cpp
index cfb3b60e31f..61a2c99b4de 100644
--- a/src/plugins/autotest/testprojectsettings.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/autotest/testprojectsettings.cpp
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ void TestProjectSettings::load()
     const QVariant runAfterBuild = m_project->namedSettings(SK_RUN_AFTER_BUILD);
     m_runAfterBuild = runAfterBuild.isValid() ? RunAfterBuildMode(runAfterBuild.toInt())
                                               : RunAfterBuildMode::None;
-    m_checkStateCache.fromSettings(m_project->namedSettings(SK_CHECK_STATES).toHash());
+    m_checkStateCache.fromSettings(m_project->namedSettings(SK_CHECK_STATES).toMap());
 }
 
 void TestProjectSettings::save()
@@ -106,8 +106,7 @@ void TestProjectSettings::save()
         activeFrameworks.insert(it.key()->id().toString(), it.value());
     m_project->setNamedSettings(SK_ACTIVE_FRAMEWORKS, activeFrameworks);
     m_project->setNamedSettings(SK_RUN_AFTER_BUILD, int(m_runAfterBuild));
-    if (!m_checkStateCache.isEmpty())
-        m_project->setNamedSettings(SK_CHECK_STATES, m_checkStateCache.toSettings());
+    m_project->setNamedSettings(SK_CHECK_STATES, m_checkStateCache.toSettings());
 }
 
 } // namespace Internal