diff --git a/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/applications/DeployMojo.java b/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/applications/DeployMojo.java
index eb92c47b0..1b49ea893 100644
--- a/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/applications/DeployMojo.java
+++ b/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/applications/DeployMojo.java
@@ -109,9 +109,6 @@ private void doDeploy() throws IOException, MojoExecutionException, TransformerE
             getLog().warn(messages.getString("warn.install.app.add.configuration"));
             applicationXml.writeApplicationXmlDocument(serverDirectory);
         }
-        
-        // create applicationMonitor configuration in configDropins/defaults
-        appMonXml.writeAppMonitorConfigXmlDocument(serverDirectory, appMonitorTrigger);
     }
 
     private void installSpringBootApp() throws MojoExecutionException, IOException {
diff --git a/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/applications/DeployMojoSupport.java b/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/applications/DeployMojoSupport.java
index a6fd365c3..cdec27e50 100644
--- a/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/applications/DeployMojoSupport.java
+++ b/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/applications/DeployMojoSupport.java
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ public abstract class DeployMojoSupport extends LooseAppSupport {
     protected File copyLibsDirectory;
 
     protected ApplicationXmlDocument applicationXml = new ApplicationXmlDocument();
-    protected ApplicationMonitorConfigXmlDocument appMonXml = new ApplicationMonitorConfigXmlDocument("maven");
 
     protected void installApp(Artifact artifact) throws MojoExecutionException, IOException {
     
diff --git a/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/server/StartDebugMojoSupport.java b/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/server/StartDebugMojoSupport.java
index b9a0a5797..c3107c9e9 100644
--- a/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/server/StartDebugMojoSupport.java
+++ b/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/server/StartDebugMojoSupport.java
@@ -67,9 +67,12 @@
 import org.twdata.maven.mojoexecutor.MojoExecutor.Element;
 
 import io.openliberty.tools.ant.ServerTask;
+import io.openliberty.tools.common.plugins.config.ApplicationMonitorConfigXmlDocument;
 import io.openliberty.tools.common.plugins.config.ServerConfigXmlDocument;
+import io.openliberty.tools.common.plugins.util.PluginExecutionException;
 import io.openliberty.tools.maven.ServerFeatureSupport;
 import io.openliberty.tools.maven.applications.LooseWarApplication;
+import io.openliberty.tools.maven.utils.CommonLogger;
 import io.openliberty.tools.maven.utils.ExecuteMojoUtil;
 
 /**
@@ -97,6 +100,8 @@ public abstract class StartDebugMojoSupport extends ServerFeatureSupport {
     protected Map<String,String> combinedBootstrapProperties = null;
     protected List<String> combinedJvmOptions = null;
     
+    protected ApplicationMonitorConfigXmlDocument appMonXml = new ApplicationMonitorConfigXmlDocument("maven");
+
     @Component
     protected BuildPluginManager pluginManager;
 
@@ -661,6 +666,15 @@ protected void copyConfigFiles() throws IOException, MojoExecutionException {
 
         configFilesCopied = true;
 
+        // create applicationMonitor configuration in configDropins/defaults
+        try {
+            // TODO: do proper logging for writing/deleting the config file (but logic is in ci.common)
+            getLog().debug("Writing or deleting configDropins applicationMonitor config file based on `appMonitorTrigger`: " + appMonitorTrigger);
+            appMonXml.writeAppMonitorConfigXmlDocument(serverDirectory, appMonitorTrigger);
+        } catch (TransformerException | ParserConfigurationException | PluginExecutionException e) {
+            throw new MojoExecutionException("Error writing configDropins applicationMonitor file", e);
+        }
+
         // Now process the copyDependencies configuration
         copyDependencies();
     }