diff --git a/include/ignition/gazebo/gui/GuiRunner.hh b/include/ignition/gazebo/gui/GuiRunner.hh
index 4ea88aa0be..421f49e47b 100644
--- a/include/ignition/gazebo/gui/GuiRunner.hh
+++ b/include/ignition/gazebo/gui/GuiRunner.hh
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ class IGNITION_GAZEBO_VISIBLE GuiRunner : public QObject
   public: ~GuiRunner() override;
 
   /// \brief Callback when a plugin has been added.
+  /// This function has no effect and is left here for ABI compatibility.
   /// \param[in] _objectName Plugin's object name.
   public slots: void OnPluginAdded(const QString &_objectName);
 
diff --git a/src/gui/Gui.cc b/src/gui/Gui.cc
index f3fdd9bbda..fb1e4934e6 100644
--- a/src/gui/Gui.cc
+++ b/src/gui/Gui.cc
@@ -176,8 +176,6 @@ std::unique_ptr<ignition::gui::Application> createGui(
     // which makes it complicated to mix configurations across worlds.
     // We could have a way to use world-agnostic topics like Gazebo-classic's ~
     auto runner = new ignition::gazebo::GuiRunner(worldsMsg.data(0));
-    runner->connect(app.get(), &ignition::gui::Application::PluginAdded, runner,
-        &ignition::gazebo::GuiRunner::OnPluginAdded);
     ++runnerCount;
     runner->setParent(ignition::gui::App());
 
@@ -214,8 +212,6 @@ std::unique_ptr<ignition::gui::Application> createGui(
 
       // GUI runner
       auto runner = new ignition::gazebo::GuiRunner(worldName);
-      runner->connect(app.get(), &ignition::gui::Application::PluginAdded,
-                      runner, &ignition::gazebo::GuiRunner::OnPluginAdded);
       runner->setParent(ignition::gui::App());
       ++runnerCount;
 
diff --git a/src/gui/GuiRunner.cc b/src/gui/GuiRunner.cc
index cc5c142ff3..7ca91beefc 100644
--- a/src/gui/GuiRunner.cc
+++ b/src/gui/GuiRunner.cc
@@ -103,23 +103,10 @@ void GuiRunner::RequestState()
 }
 
 /////////////////////////////////////////////////
-void GuiRunner::OnPluginAdded(const QString &_objectName)
+void GuiRunner::OnPluginAdded(const QString &)
 {
-  auto plugin = gui::App()->PluginByName(_objectName.toStdString());
-  if (!plugin)
-  {
-    ignerr << "Failed to get plugin [" << _objectName.toStdString()
-           << "]" << std::endl;
-    return;
-  }
-
-  auto guiSystem = dynamic_cast<GuiSystem *>(plugin.get());
-
-  // Do nothing for pure ign-gui plugins
-  if (!guiSystem)
-    return;
-
-  guiSystem->Update(this->updateInfo, this->ecm);
+  // This function used to call Update on the plugin, but that's no longer
+  // necessary. The function is left here for ABI compatibility.
 }
 
 /////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/src/gui/plugins/joint_position_controller/JointPositionController_TEST.cc b/src/gui/plugins/joint_position_controller/JointPositionController_TEST.cc
index 2c40082982..703fa7de84 100644
--- a/src/gui/plugins/joint_position_controller/JointPositionController_TEST.cc
+++ b/src/gui/plugins/joint_position_controller/JointPositionController_TEST.cc
@@ -68,8 +68,6 @@ TEST_F(JointPositionControllerGui, IGN_UTILS_TEST_ENABLED_ONLY_ON_LINUX(Load))
 
   // Create GUI runner to handle gazebo::gui plugins
   auto runner = new gazebo::GuiRunner("test");
-  runner->connect(app.get(), &gui::Application::PluginAdded,
-                  runner, &gazebo::GuiRunner::OnPluginAdded);
   runner->setParent(gui::App());
 
   // Add plugin
@@ -85,6 +83,17 @@ TEST_F(JointPositionControllerGui, IGN_UTILS_TEST_ENABLED_ONLY_ON_LINUX(Load))
   EXPECT_EQ(plugins.size(), 1);
 
   auto plugin = plugins[0];
+
+  int sleep = 0;
+  int maxSleep = 30;
+  while (plugin->ModelName() != "No model selected" && sleep < maxSleep)
+  {
+    std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(100));
+    QCoreApplication::processEvents();
+    sleep++;
+  }
+
+  EXPECT_LT(sleep, maxSleep);
   EXPECT_EQ(plugin->Title(), "Joint position controller");
   EXPECT_EQ(plugin->ModelEntity(), gazebo::kNullEntity);
   EXPECT_EQ(plugin->ModelName(), QString("No model selected"))
@@ -143,8 +152,6 @@ TEST_F(JointPositionControllerGui,
 
   // Create GUI runner to handle gazebo::gui plugins
   auto runner = new gazebo::GuiRunner("test");
-  runner->connect(app.get(), &gui::Application::PluginAdded,
-                  runner, &gazebo::GuiRunner::OnPluginAdded);
   runner->setParent(gui::App());
 
   // Load plugin
@@ -175,6 +182,16 @@ TEST_F(JointPositionControllerGui,
   auto plugin = plugins[0];
   EXPECT_EQ(plugin->Title(), "JointPositionController!");
 
+  int sleep = 0;
+  int maxSleep = 30;
+  while (plugin->ModelName() != "No model selected" && sleep < maxSleep)
+  {
+    std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(100));
+    QCoreApplication::processEvents();
+    sleep++;
+  }
+  EXPECT_LT(sleep, maxSleep);
+
   EXPECT_EQ(plugin->ModelEntity(), gazebo::kNullEntity);
   EXPECT_EQ(plugin->ModelName(), QString("No model selected"))
       << plugin->ModelName().toStdString();
@@ -196,8 +213,7 @@ TEST_F(JointPositionControllerGui,
     runner->RequestState();
   });
 
-  int sleep = 0;
-  int maxSleep = 30;
+  sleep = 0;
   while (plugin->ModelName() != "model_name" && sleep < maxSleep)
   {
     std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(100));
@@ -217,4 +233,3 @@ TEST_F(JointPositionControllerGui,
   // Cleanup
   plugins.clear();
 }
-
diff --git a/src/gui/plugins/plot_3d/Plot3D_TEST.cc b/src/gui/plugins/plot_3d/Plot3D_TEST.cc
index e84ed4abf5..f34e600409 100644
--- a/src/gui/plugins/plot_3d/Plot3D_TEST.cc
+++ b/src/gui/plugins/plot_3d/Plot3D_TEST.cc
@@ -74,8 +74,6 @@ TEST_F(Plot3D, IGN_UTILS_TEST_ENABLED_ONLY_ON_LINUX(Load))
 
   // Create GUI runner to handle gazebo::gui plugins
   auto runner = new gazebo::GuiRunner("test");
-  runner->connect(app.get(), &gui::Application::PluginAdded,
-                  runner, &gazebo::GuiRunner::OnPluginAdded);
   runner->setParent(gui::App());
 
   // Add plugin