diff --git a/schemas/org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-panel.gschema.xml b/schemas/org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-panel.gschema.xml
index a605be4..092fd85 100644
--- a/schemas/org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-panel.gschema.xml
+++ b/schemas/org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-panel.gschema.xml
@@ -610,20 +610,19 @@
       <description>When the applications are ungrouped, this defines if running applications stay separate from the favorite icons.</description>
     </key>
     <key type="i" name="primary-monitor">
-      <default>0</default>
+      <default>-1</default>
       <summary>Primary monitor index</summary>
-      <description>Specifies the index of the primary monitor.</description>
+      <description>Specifies the index of the primary monitor. -1 if same as gnome-shell primary monitor.</description>
+    </key>
+    <key type="i" name="gs-primary-monitor">
+      <default>0</default>
+      <summary>Primary gnome-shell monitor index</summary>
     </key>
     <key type="b" name="multi-monitors">
       <default>true</default>
       <summary>Display panels on all monitors</summary>
       <description>Specifies if a panel is shown on every monitors</description>
     </key>
-    <key type="ai" name="available-monitors">
-     <default>[]</default>
-     <summary>Available monitors</summary>
-     <description>Available gnome-shell (Mutter) monitors, internal use</description>
-    </key>
     <key type="b" name="isolate-monitors">
       <default>false</default>
       <summary>Provide monitor isolation</summary>
diff --git a/src/panelManager.js b/src/panelManager.js
index cce0e92..9587a37 100755
--- a/src/panelManager.js
+++ b/src/panelManager.js
@@ -491,30 +491,18 @@ export const PanelManager = class {
     //monitor as GDK gdk_screen_get_primary_monitor (imports.gi.Gdk.Screen.get_default().get_primary_monitor()).
     //Since the Mutter function is what's used in gnome-shell and we can't access it from the settings dialog, store
     //the monitors information in a setting so we can use the same monitor indexes as the ones in gnome-shell
-    let keyMonitors = 'available-monitors'
     let keyPrimary = 'primary-monitor'
     let primaryIndex = Main.layoutManager.primaryIndex
-    let newMonitors = [primaryIndex]
-    let savedMonitors = SETTINGS.get_value(keyMonitors).deep_unpack()
     let dtpPrimaryIndex = SETTINGS.get_int(keyPrimary)
-    let newDtpPrimaryIndex = primaryIndex
 
-    Main.layoutManager.monitors
-      .filter((m) => m.index != primaryIndex)
-      .forEach((m) => newMonitors.push(m.index))
+    if (
+      !Main.layoutManager.monitors[dtpPrimaryIndex] ||
+      dtpPrimaryIndex == primaryIndex
+    )
+      dtpPrimaryIndex = -1
 
-    if (savedMonitors[0] != dtpPrimaryIndex) {
-      // dash to panel primary wasn't the gnome-shell primary (first index of available-monitors)
-      let savedIndex = savedMonitors.indexOf(dtpPrimaryIndex)
-
-      // default to primary if it was set to a monitor that is no longer available
-      newDtpPrimaryIndex = newMonitors[savedIndex]
-      newDtpPrimaryIndex =
-        newDtpPrimaryIndex == null ? primaryIndex : newDtpPrimaryIndex
-    }
-
-    SETTINGS.set_int(keyPrimary, newDtpPrimaryIndex)
-    SETTINGS.set_value(keyMonitors, new GLib.Variant('ai', newMonitors))
+    SETTINGS.set_int(keyPrimary, dtpPrimaryIndex)
+    SETTINGS.set_int('gs-primary-monitor', primaryIndex)
   }
 
   checkIfFocusedMonitor(monitor) {
diff --git a/src/prefs.js b/src/prefs.js
index daead65..71671e0 100644
--- a/src/prefs.js
+++ b/src/prefs.js
@@ -1234,17 +1234,26 @@ const Preferences = class {
       })
 
     //multi-monitor
-    this.monitors = this._settings.get_value('available-monitors').deep_unpack()
+    this.monitors = []
 
+    for (
+      let i = 0;
+      i < Gdk.Display.get_default().get_monitors().get_n_items();
+      ++i
+    ) {
+      this.monitors.push(i)
+    }
+
+    let primaryMonitorIndex = this._settings.get_int('gs-primary-monitor')
     let dtpPrimaryMonitorIndex = this.monitors.indexOf(
       this._settings.get_int('primary-monitor'),
     )
 
     if (dtpPrimaryMonitorIndex < 0) {
-      dtpPrimaryMonitorIndex = 0
+      dtpPrimaryMonitorIndex = primaryMonitorIndex
     }
 
-    this._currentMonitorIndex = this.monitors[dtpPrimaryMonitorIndex]
+    this._currentMonitorIndex = dtpPrimaryMonitorIndex
 
     this._settings.connect('changed::panel-positions', () =>
       this._updateVerticalRelatedOptions(),
@@ -1252,8 +1261,10 @@ const Preferences = class {
     this._updateVerticalRelatedOptions()
 
     for (let i = 0; i < this.monitors.length; ++i) {
-      //the gnome-shell primary index is the first one in the "available-monitors" setting
-      let label = !i ? _('Primary monitor') : _('Monitor ') + (i + 1)
+      let label =
+        i == primaryMonitorIndex
+          ? _('Primary monitor')
+          : _('Monitor ') + (i + 1)
 
       this._builder.get_object('multimon_primary_combo').append_text(label)
       this._builder