diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/main/java/org/openhab/core/model/yaml/internal/YamlModelRepositoryImpl.java b/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/main/java/org/openhab/core/model/yaml/internal/YamlModelRepositoryImpl.java
index fffdcc8fd0e..0aecf551e5b 100644
--- a/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/main/java/org/openhab/core/model/yaml/internal/YamlModelRepositoryImpl.java
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/main/java/org/openhab/core/model/yaml/internal/YamlModelRepositoryImpl.java
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
  */
 package org.openhab.core.model.yaml.internal;
 
+import static org.openhab.core.service.WatchService.Kind.CREATE;
+
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
@@ -24,6 +26,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
 import java.util.concurrent.CopyOnWriteArrayList;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
 import org.eclipse.jdt.annotation.NonNullByDefault;
 import org.eclipse.jdt.annotation.Nullable;
@@ -52,6 +55,7 @@
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ObjectNode;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.yaml.YAMLFactory;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.yaml.YAMLGenerator;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.yaml.YAMLParser;
 
 /**
  * The {@link YamlModelRepositoryImpl} is an OSGi service, that encapsulates all YAML file processing
@@ -82,7 +86,8 @@ public YamlModelRepositoryImpl(@Reference(target = WatchService.CONFIG_WATCHER_F
                 .disable(YAMLGenerator.Feature.SPLIT_LINES) // do not split long lines
                 .enable(YAMLGenerator.Feature.INDENT_ARRAYS_WITH_INDICATOR) // indent arrays
                 .enable(YAMLGenerator.Feature.MINIMIZE_QUOTES) // use quotes only where necessary
-                .build();
+                .enable(YAMLParser.Feature.PARSE_BOOLEAN_LIKE_WORDS_AS_STRINGS).build(); // do not parse ON/OFF/... as
+                                                                                         // booleans
         this.objectMapper = new ObjectMapper(yamlFactory);
         objectMapper.findAndRegisterModules();
         objectMapper.setVisibility(PropertyAccessor.ALL, JsonAutoDetect.Visibility.NONE);
@@ -91,6 +96,13 @@ public YamlModelRepositoryImpl(@Reference(target = WatchService.CONFIG_WATCHER_F
         this.watchService = watchService;
         watchService.registerListener(this, Path.of(""));
         watchPath = watchService.getWatchPath();
+
+        // read initial contents
+        try (Stream<Path> files = Files.walk(watchPath)) {
+            files.filter(Files::isRegularFile).map(watchPath::relativize).forEach(f -> processWatchEvent(CREATE, f));
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            logger.warn("Could not list YAML files in '{}', models might be missing: {}", watchPath, e.getMessage());
+        }
     }
 
     @Deactivate
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/java/org/openhab/core/model/yaml/internal/YamlModelRepositoryImplTest.java b/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/java/org/openhab/core/model/yaml/internal/YamlModelRepositoryImplTest.java
index ccae8c33b99..0b6ac9a9df3 100644
--- a/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/java/org/openhab/core/model/yaml/internal/YamlModelRepositoryImplTest.java
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/java/org/openhab/core/model/yaml/internal/YamlModelRepositoryImplTest.java
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
 @MockitoSettings(strictness = Strictness.LENIENT)
 @NonNullByDefault
 public class YamlModelRepositoryImplTest {
-    private static final Path SOURCE_PATH = Path.of("src/test/resources");
+    private static final Path SOURCE_PATH = Path.of("src/test/resources/model");
     private static final String MODEL_NAME = "model";
     private static final Path MODEL_PATH = Path.of(MODEL_NAME + ".yaml");
 
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/addToModelExpectedContent.yaml b/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/addToModelExpectedContent.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/addToModelExpectedContent.yaml
rename to bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/addToModelExpectedContent.yaml
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/modelFileAddedOrRemoved.yaml b/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/modelFileAddedOrRemoved.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/modelFileAddedOrRemoved.yaml
rename to bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/modelFileAddedOrRemoved.yaml
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/modelFileUpdatePost.yaml b/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/modelFileUpdatePost.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/modelFileUpdatePost.yaml
rename to bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/modelFileUpdatePost.yaml
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/modelFileUpdatePre.yaml b/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/modelFileUpdatePre.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/modelFileUpdatePre.yaml
rename to bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/modelFileUpdatePre.yaml
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/modifyModelInitialContent.yaml b/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/modifyModelInitialContent.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/modifyModelInitialContent.yaml
rename to bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/modifyModelInitialContent.yaml
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/removeFromModelExpectedContent.yaml b/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/removeFromModelExpectedContent.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/removeFromModelExpectedContent.yaml
rename to bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/removeFromModelExpectedContent.yaml
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/updateInModelExpectedContent.yaml b/bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/updateInModelExpectedContent.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/updateInModelExpectedContent.yaml
rename to bundles/org.openhab.core.model.yaml/src/test/resources/model/updateInModelExpectedContent.yaml