diff --git a/lib/extension/externalExtension.js b/lib/extension/externalExtension.js
index 19f5a4b92..22ba8f31b 100644
--- a/lib/extension/externalExtension.js
+++ b/lib/extension/externalExtension.js
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@ class ExternalExtension extends Extension {
         this.addExtension = addExtension;
         this.enableDisableExtension = enableDisableExtension;
         this.extensionsBaseDir = 'extension';
+        this.loadExtension = this.loadExtension.bind(this);
         this.requestLookup = {
             'save': this.saveExtension.bind(this),
-            'read': this.readExtensionCode.bind(this),
         };
         this.loadUserDefinedExtensions();
     }
@@ -28,13 +28,16 @@ class ExternalExtension extends Extension {
     getListOfUserDefinedExtensions() {
         const basePath = this.getExtensionsBasePath();
         if (fs.existsSync(basePath)) {
-            return fs.readdirSync(basePath).filter((f) => f.endsWith('.js'));
+            return fs.readdirSync(basePath).filter((f) => f.endsWith('.js')).map((fileName) => {
+                const extensonFilePath = path.join(basePath, fileName);
+                return {'name': fileName, 'code': fs.readFileSync(extensonFilePath, 'utf-8')};
+            });
         } else {
             return [];
         }
     }
-    saveExtension({name, content}) {
-        const ModuleConstructor = utils.loadModuleFromText(content);
+    saveExtension({name, code}) {
+        const ModuleConstructor = utils.loadModuleFromText(code);
         this.loadExtension(ModuleConstructor);
         const basePath = this.getExtensionsBasePath();
         /* istanbul ignore else */
@@ -42,15 +45,11 @@ class ExternalExtension extends Extension {
             fs.mkdirSync(basePath);
         }
         const extensonFilePath = path.join(basePath, name);
-        fs.writeFileSync(extensonFilePath, content);
+        fs.writeFileSync(extensonFilePath, code);
         this.publishExtensions();
         return utils.getResponse(`Extension ${name} loaded`, {}, null);
     }
-    readExtensionCode({name}) {
-        const extensonFilePath = path.join(this.getExtensionsBasePath(), name);
-        const response = {name, content: fs.readFileSync(extensonFilePath, 'utf-8')};
-        return utils.getResponse(`Extension ${name} code read`, response, null);
-    }
+
 
     async onMQTTMessage(topic, message) {
         const match = topic.match(requestRegex);
@@ -74,11 +73,9 @@ class ExternalExtension extends Extension {
 
     loadUserDefinedExtensions() {
         const extensions = this.getListOfUserDefinedExtensions();
-        const extensionPath = this.getExtensionsBasePath();
-        for (const extension of extensions) {
-            const Extension = utils.loadModuleFromFile(path.join(extensionPath, extension));
-            this.loadExtension(Extension);
-        }
+        extensions
+            .map(({code}) => utils.loadModuleFromText(code))
+            .map(this.loadExtension);
     }
     async onMQTTConnected() {
         this.publishExtensions();
diff --git a/test/externalExtension.test.js b/test/externalExtension.test.js
index 191f26c33..5a3ab1eec 100644
--- a/test/externalExtension.test.js
+++ b/test/externalExtension.test.js
@@ -44,12 +44,7 @@ describe('User extensions', () => {
         await controller.start();
         await flushPromises();
         expect(MQTT.publish).toHaveBeenCalledWith('zigbee2mqtt/example/extension', 'test', { retain: false, qos: 0 }, expect.any(Function));
-        expect(MQTT.publish).toHaveBeenCalledWith('zigbee2mqtt/bridge/extensions', stringify(['exampleExtension.js']), { retain: true, qos: 0 }, expect.any(Function));
-        MQTT.publish.mockClear();
-        MQTT.events.message('zigbee2mqtt/bridge/extension/request/read', stringify({"name": "exampleExtension.js"}));
-        await flushPromises();
-        const expectedResponse = {"data": {"name": "exampleExtension.js", "content": extensionCode}, "status":"ok"};
-        expect(MQTT.publish).toHaveBeenCalledWith('zigbee2mqtt/bridge/extension/response/read', stringify(expectedResponse), { retain: false, qos: 0 }, expect.any(Function));
+        expect(MQTT.publish).toHaveBeenCalledWith('zigbee2mqtt/bridge/extensions', stringify([{"name": "exampleExtension.js", "code": extensionCode}]), { retain: true, qos: 0 }, expect.any(Function));
     });
 
     it('Load user extension from api call', async () => {
@@ -59,9 +54,9 @@ describe('User extensions', () => {
         await controller.start();
         await flushPromises();
         MQTT.publish.mockClear();
-        MQTT.events.message('zigbee2mqtt/bridge/extension/request/save', stringify({"name": "foo.js", "content": extensionCode}));
+        MQTT.events.message('zigbee2mqtt/bridge/extension/request/save', stringify({"name": "foo.js", "code": extensionCode}));
         await flushPromises();
-        expect(MQTT.publish).toHaveBeenCalledWith('zigbee2mqtt/bridge/extensions', stringify(['foo.js']), { retain: true, qos: 0 }, expect.any(Function));
+        expect(MQTT.publish).toHaveBeenCalledWith('zigbee2mqtt/bridge/extensions', stringify([{"name": "foo.js", "code": extensionCode}]), { retain: true, qos: 0 }, expect.any(Function));
         expect(MQTT.publish).toHaveBeenCalledWith('zigbee2mqtt/example/extension', 'call from constructor', { retain: false, qos: 0 }, expect.any(Function));
         expect(mkdirSyncSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(extensionPath);
     });
@@ -73,7 +68,7 @@ describe('User extensions', () => {
         await controller.start();
         await flushPromises();
         MQTT.publish.mockClear();
-        MQTT.events.message('zigbee2mqtt/bridge/extension/request/save', stringify({"name": "foo.js", "content": extensionCode}));
+        MQTT.events.message('zigbee2mqtt/bridge/extension/request/save', stringify({"name": "foo.js", "code": extensionCode}));
         await flushPromises();
 
         expect(MQTT.publish).toHaveBeenCalledWith('zigbee2mqtt/bridge/extension/response/save', stringify({"data":{},"error":"Unexpected identifier","status":"error"}), { retain: false, qos: 0 }, expect.any(Function));