diff --git a/docs/user-guide/nginx-configuration/configmap.md b/docs/user-guide/nginx-configuration/configmap.md
index cd0e8035d..1849d4bd4 100644
--- a/docs/user-guide/nginx-configuration/configmap.md
+++ b/docs/user-guide/nginx-configuration/configmap.md
@@ -585,12 +585,13 @@ Sets the algorithm to use for load balancing.
 The value can either be:
 
 - round_robin: to use the default round robin loadbalancer
-- least_conn: to use the least connected method (_note_ that this is available only in non-dynamic mode: `--enable-dynamic-configuration=false`)
-- ip_hash: to use a hash of the server for routing (_note_ that this is available only in non-dynamic mode: `--enable-dynamic-configuration=false`, but alternatively you can consider using `nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/upstream-hash-by`)
 - ewma: to use the Peak EWMA method for routing ([implementation](https://github.com/kubernetes/ingress-nginx/blob/master/rootfs/etc/nginx/lua/balancer/ewma.lua))
 
 The default is `round_robin`.
 
+- To load balance using consistent hashing of IP or other variables, consider the `nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/upstream-hash-by` annotation.
+- To load balance using session cookies, consider the `nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/affinity` annotation.
+
 _References:_
 [http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/load_balancing.html](http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/load_balancing.html)
 
diff --git a/internal/ingress/controller/controller.go b/internal/ingress/controller/controller.go
index 5a63fd335..90f789770 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/controller/controller.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/controller/controller.go
@@ -619,18 +619,16 @@ func (n *NGINXController) createUpstreams(data []*ingress.Ingress, du *ingress.B
 
 			klog.V(3).Infof("Creating upstream %q", defBackend)
 			upstreams[defBackend] = newUpstream(defBackend)
-			if upstreams[defBackend].SecureCACert.Secret == "" {
-				upstreams[defBackend].SecureCACert = anns.SecureUpstream.CACert
-			}
 
-			if upstreams[defBackend].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBy == "" {
-				upstreams[defBackend].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBy = anns.UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBy
-				upstreams[defBackend].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubset = anns.UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubset
-				upstreams[defBackend].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubsetSize = anns.UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubsetSize
-			}
+			upstreams[defBackend].SecureCACert = anns.SecureUpstream.CACert
 
+			upstreams[defBackend].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBy = anns.UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBy
+			upstreams[defBackend].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubset = anns.UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubset
+			upstreams[defBackend].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubsetSize = anns.UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubsetSize
+
+			upstreams[defBackend].LoadBalancing = anns.LoadBalancing
 			if upstreams[defBackend].LoadBalancing == "" {
-				upstreams[defBackend].LoadBalancing = anns.LoadBalancing
+				upstreams[defBackend].LoadBalancing = n.store.GetBackendConfiguration().LoadBalancing
 			}
 
 			svcKey := fmt.Sprintf("%v/%v", ing.Namespace, ing.Spec.Backend.ServiceName)
@@ -687,18 +685,15 @@ func (n *NGINXController) createUpstreams(data []*ingress.Ingress, du *ingress.B
 				upstreams[name] = newUpstream(name)
 				upstreams[name].Port = path.Backend.ServicePort
 
-				if upstreams[name].SecureCACert.Secret == "" {
-					upstreams[name].SecureCACert = anns.SecureUpstream.CACert
-				}
+				upstreams[name].SecureCACert = anns.SecureUpstream.CACert
 
-				if upstreams[name].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBy == "" {
-					upstreams[name].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBy = anns.UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBy
-					upstreams[name].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubset = anns.UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubset
-					upstreams[name].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubsetSize = anns.UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubsetSize
-				}
+				upstreams[name].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBy = anns.UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBy
+				upstreams[name].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubset = anns.UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubset
+				upstreams[name].UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubsetSize = anns.UpstreamHashBy.UpstreamHashBySubsetSize
 
+				upstreams[name].LoadBalancing = anns.LoadBalancing
 				if upstreams[name].LoadBalancing == "" {
-					upstreams[name].LoadBalancing = anns.LoadBalancing
+					upstreams[name].LoadBalancing = n.store.GetBackendConfiguration().LoadBalancing
 				}
 
 				svcKey := fmt.Sprintf("%v/%v", ing.Namespace, path.Backend.ServiceName)
diff --git a/test/e2e/loadbalance/configmap.go b/test/e2e/loadbalance/configmap.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..abd4c500a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/loadbalance/configmap.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package loadbalance
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+
+	"k8s.io/ingress-nginx/test/e2e/framework"
+)
+
+const (
+	waitForLuaSync = 5 * time.Second
+)
+
+var _ = framework.IngressNginxDescribe("Load Balance - Configmap value", func() {
+	f := framework.NewDefaultFramework("lb-configmap")
+
+	BeforeEach(func() {
+		f.NewEchoDeploymentWithReplicas(1)
+	})
+
+	AfterEach(func() {
+	})
+
+	It("should apply the configmap load-balance setting", func() {
+		host := "load-balance.com"
+
+		f.UpdateNginxConfigMapData("load-balance", "ewma")
+
+		f.EnsureIngress(framework.NewSingleIngress(host, "/", host, f.Namespace, "http-svc", 80, nil))
+		f.WaitForNginxServer(host,
+			func(server string) bool {
+				return strings.Contains(server, "server_name load-balance.com")
+			})
+		time.Sleep(waitForLuaSync)
+
+		getCmd := "/dbg backends all"
+		output, err := f.ExecIngressPod(getCmd)
+		Expect(err).Should(BeNil())
+
+		var backends []map[string]interface{}
+		unmarshalErr := json.Unmarshal([]byte(output), &backends)
+		Expect(unmarshalErr).Should(BeNil())
+
+		for _, backend := range backends {
+			if backend["name"].(string) != "upstream-default-backend" {
+				lb, ok := backend["load-balance"].(string)
+				Expect(ok).Should(Equal(true))
+				Expect(lb).Should(Equal("ewma"))
+			}
+		}
+	})
+})
diff --git a/test/e2e/loadbalance/round_robin.go b/test/e2e/loadbalance/round_robin.go
index e64abbc13..5b16f2ad9 100644
--- a/test/e2e/loadbalance/round_robin.go
+++ b/test/e2e/loadbalance/round_robin.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
-package settings
+package loadbalance
 
 import (
 	"regexp"