diff --git a/app/models/ci/build.rb b/app/models/ci/build.rb
index 405c89d0103..0b3c6ac4fee 100644
--- a/app/models/ci/build.rb
+++ b/app/models/ci/build.rb
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ module Ci
     has_one :job_artifacts_metadata, -> { where(file_type: Ci::JobArtifact.file_types[:metadata]) }, class_name: 'Ci::JobArtifact', inverse_of: :job, foreign_key: :job_id
     has_one :job_artifacts_trace, -> { where(file_type: Ci::JobArtifact.file_types[:trace]) }, class_name: 'Ci::JobArtifact', inverse_of: :job, foreign_key: :job_id
 
-    has_one :build_metadata, class_name: 'Ci::BuildMetadata'
+    has_one :metadata, class_name: 'Ci::BuildMetadata'
 
     # The "environment" field for builds is a String, and is the unexpanded name
     def persisted_environment
@@ -157,12 +157,12 @@ module Ci
       end
 
       before_transition pending: :running do |build|
-        build.metadata.save_timeout_state!
+        build.ensure_metadata.save_timeout_state!
       end
     end
 
-    def metadata
-      self.build_metadata ||= Ci::BuildMetadata.new
+    def ensure_metadata
+      metadata || build_metadata
     end
 
     def detailed_status(current_user)
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ module Ci
     end
 
     def timeout
-      metadata.timeout
+      ensure_metadata.timeout
     end
 
     def triggered_by?(current_user)
diff --git a/app/serializers/build_details_entity.rb b/app/serializers/build_details_entity.rb
index ca4480fe2b1..99ca0bd158b 100644
--- a/app/serializers/build_details_entity.rb
+++ b/app/serializers/build_details_entity.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@ class BuildDetailsEntity < JobEntity
   expose :runner, using: RunnerEntity
   expose :pipeline, using: PipelineEntity
 
-  expose :metadata, using: BuildMetadataEntity
+  expose :metadata, using: BuildMetadataEntity do |build|
+    build.ensure_metadata
+  end
 
   expose :erased_by, if: -> (*) { build.erased? }, using: UserEntity
   expose :erase_path, if: -> (*) { build.erasable? && can?(current_user, :erase_build, build) } do |build|
diff --git a/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb b/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb
index 6affd05d8aa..b209d53ae08 100644
--- a/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb
@@ -2052,11 +2052,11 @@ describe Ci::Build do
 
     shared_examples 'saves data on transition' do
       it 'saves timeout' do
-        expect { job.run! }.to change { job.reload.metadata.timeout }.from(nil).to(expected_timeout)
+        expect { job.run! }.to change { job.reload.ensure_metadata.timeout }.from(nil).to(expected_timeout)
       end
 
       it 'saves timeout_source' do
-        expect { job.run! }.to change { job.reload.metadata.timeout_source }.from('unknown_timeout_source').to(expected_timeout_source)
+        expect { job.run! }.to change { job.reload.ensure_metadata.timeout_source }.from('unknown_timeout_source').to(expected_timeout_source)
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/services/ci/retry_build_service_spec.rb b/spec/services/ci/retry_build_service_spec.rb
index 415302e84f2..8de0bdf92e2 100644
--- a/spec/services/ci/retry_build_service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/ci/retry_build_service_spec.rb
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ describe Ci::RetryBuildService do
        runner_id tag_taggings taggings tags trigger_request_id
        user_id auto_canceled_by_id retried failure_reason
        artifacts_file_store artifacts_metadata_store
-       build_metadata].freeze
+       metadata].freeze
 
   shared_examples 'build duplication' do
     let(:another_pipeline) { create(:ci_empty_pipeline, project: project) }