diff --git a/packages/router/src/apply_redirects.ts b/packages/router/src/apply_redirects.ts
index 6827c0b005..5eb4050473 100644
--- a/packages/router/src/apply_redirects.ts
+++ b/packages/router/src/apply_redirects.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
  */
 
 import {Injector, NgModuleRef} from '@angular/core';
-import {EmptyError, Observable, Observer, of} from 'rxjs';
+import {defer, EmptyError, Observable, Observer, of} from 'rxjs';
 import {catchError, concatAll, first, map, mergeMap, tap} from 'rxjs/operators';
 
 import {LoadedRouterConfig, Route, Routes} from './config';
@@ -247,11 +247,12 @@ class ApplyRedirects {
       segments: UrlSegment[]): Observable<UrlSegmentGroup> {
     if (route.path === '**') {
       if (route.loadChildren) {
-        return this.configLoader.load(ngModule.injector, route)
-            .pipe(map((cfg: LoadedRouterConfig) => {
-              route._loadedConfig = cfg;
-              return new UrlSegmentGroup(segments, {});
-            }));
+        return defer(
+            () => this.configLoader.load(ngModule.injector, route)
+                      .pipe(map((cfg: LoadedRouterConfig) => {
+                        route._loadedConfig = cfg;
+                        return new UrlSegmentGroup(segments, {});
+                      })));
       }
 
       return of(new UrlSegmentGroup(segments, {}));
diff --git a/packages/router/test/apply_redirects.spec.ts b/packages/router/test/apply_redirects.spec.ts
index 918d259ce0..d564727a88 100644
--- a/packages/router/test/apply_redirects.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/router/test/apply_redirects.spec.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import {NgModuleRef} from '@angular/core';
 import {TestBed} from '@angular/core/testing';
 import {Observable, of} from 'rxjs';
+import {delay} from 'rxjs/operators';
 
 import {applyRedirects} from '../src/apply_redirects';
 import {LoadedRouterConfig, Route, Routes} from '../src/config';
@@ -435,6 +436,25 @@ describe('applyRedirects', () => {
           });
     });
 
+    it('should not load the configuration of a wildcard route if there is a match', () => {
+      const loadedConfig = new LoadedRouterConfig([{path: '', component: ComponentB}], testModule);
+
+      const loader = jasmine.createSpyObj('loader', ['load']);
+      loader.load.and.returnValue(of(loadedConfig).pipe(delay(0)));
+
+      const config: Routes = [
+        {path: '', loadChildren: 'matchChildren'},
+        {path: '**', loadChildren: 'children'},
+      ];
+
+      applyRedirects(testModule.injector, <any>loader, serializer, tree(''), config).forEach(r => {
+        expect(loader.load.calls.count()).toEqual(1);
+        expect(loader.load.calls.first().args).not.toContain(jasmine.objectContaining({
+          loadChildren: 'children'
+        }));
+      });
+    });
+
     it('should load the configuration after a local redirect from a wildcard route', () => {
       const loadedConfig = new LoadedRouterConfig([{path: '', component: ComponentB}], testModule);