diff --git a/src/corelib/plugin/qplugin.h b/src/corelib/plugin/qplugin.h
index affe3f5412..884f510541 100644
--- a/src/corelib/plugin/qplugin.h
+++ b/src/corelib/plugin/qplugin.h
@@ -155,13 +155,26 @@ void Q_CORE_EXPORT qRegisterStaticPluginFunction(QStaticPlugin staticPlugin);
 // Since Qt 6.3
 template <auto (&PluginMetaData)> class QPluginMetaDataV2
 {
-    struct Payload {
+    struct RegularPayload {
         QPluginMetaData::MagicHeader header = {};
         quint8 payload[sizeof(PluginMetaData)] = {};
-        constexpr Payload() { QPluginMetaData::copy(payload, PluginMetaData); }
+        constexpr RegularPayload() { QPluginMetaData::copy(payload, PluginMetaData); }
     };
 
-#define QT_PLUGIN_METADATAV2_SECTION      QT_PLUGIN_METADATA_SECTION
+    struct StaticPayload {
+        QPluginMetaData::Header header = {};
+        quint8 payload[sizeof(PluginMetaData)] = {};
+        constexpr StaticPayload() { QPluginMetaData::copy(payload, PluginMetaData); }
+    };
+
+#if defined(QT_STATICPLUGIN)
+#  define QT_PLUGIN_METADATAV2_SECTION
+    using Payload = StaticPayload;
+#else
+#  define QT_PLUGIN_METADATAV2_SECTION      QT_PLUGIN_METADATA_SECTION
+    using Payload = RegularPayload;
+#endif
+
     Payload payload = {};
 
 public:
diff --git a/src/corelib/plugin/qpluginloader.cpp b/src/corelib/plugin/qpluginloader.cpp
index e0cd8e7c45..9afdf0e537 100644
--- a/src/corelib/plugin/qpluginloader.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/plugin/qpluginloader.cpp
@@ -477,12 +477,10 @@ QList<QStaticPlugin> QPluginLoader::staticPlugins()
 */
 QJsonObject QStaticPlugin::metaData() const
 {
-    Q_ASSERT(rawMetaDataSize >= qsizetype(sizeof(QPluginMetaData::MagicHeader)));
     auto ptr = static_cast<const char *>(rawMetaData);
-    ptr += sizeof(QPluginMetaData::MagicString);
 
     QString errMsg;
-    QJsonDocument doc = qJsonFromRawLibraryMetaData(ptr, rawMetaDataSize - sizeof(QPluginMetaData::MagicString), &errMsg);
+    QJsonDocument doc = qJsonFromRawLibraryMetaData(ptr, rawMetaDataSize, &errMsg);
     Q_ASSERT(doc.isObject());
     Q_ASSERT(errMsg.isEmpty());
     return doc.object();
diff --git a/tests/auto/tools/moc/tst_moc.cpp b/tests/auto/tools/moc/tst_moc.cpp
index 49053e8d0e..6776b6e509 100644
--- a/tests/auto/tools/moc/tst_moc.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/tools/moc/tst_moc.cpp
@@ -1468,25 +1468,23 @@ void tst_Moc::environmentIncludePaths()
 // plugin_metadata.h contains a plugin which we register here. Since we're not building this
 // application as a plugin, we need top copy some of the initializer code found in qplugin.h:
 extern "C" QObject *qt_plugin_instance();
-#if QT_VERSION >= QT_VERSION_CHECK(6, 0, 0)
 extern "C" QPluginMetaData qt_plugin_query_metadata();
 class StaticPluginInstance{
 public:
     StaticPluginInstance() {
-        QStaticPlugin plugin(qt_plugin_instance, qt_plugin_query_metadata);
+        decltype(&qt_plugin_query_metadata) queryFn;
+        queryFn = []() {
+            // Static plugins don't carry the magic string (since Qt 6.3)
+            QPluginMetaData md = qt_plugin_query_metadata();
+            int delta = sizeof(QPluginMetaData::MagicString);
+            md.data = static_cast<const char *>(md.data) + delta;
+            md.size -= delta;
+            return md;
+        };
+        QStaticPlugin plugin(qt_plugin_instance, queryFn);
         qRegisterStaticPluginFunction(plugin);
     }
 };
-#else
-extern "C" const char *qt_plugin_query_metadata();
-class StaticPluginInstance{
-public:
-    StaticPluginInstance() {
-        QStaticPlugin plugin = { &qt_plugin_instance, &qt_plugin_query_metadata };
-        qRegisterStaticPluginFunction(plugin);
-    }
-};
-#endif
 static StaticPluginInstance staticInstance;
 
 void tst_Moc::specifyMetaTagsFromCmdline() {