diff --git a/inttest/tplugins/bad.config b/inttest/tplugins/bad.config
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..23069b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inttest/tplugins/bad.config
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+{plugins, [bad_plugin]}.
+{plugin_dir, "bad_plugins"}.
diff --git a/inttest/tplugins/bad_plugin.erl b/inttest/tplugins/bad_plugin.erl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..77ec01b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inttest/tplugins/bad_plugin.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+-module(bad_plugin).
+-compile(export_all).
+
+%% this plugin contains numerous DELIBERATE syntax errors
+
+fwibble(Config, _) >
+    file:delete("fwibble.test")
diff --git a/inttest/tplugins/fish.erl b/inttest/tplugins/fish.erl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..739cb94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inttest/tplugins/fish.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+-module(fish).
+
+-compile(export_all).
+
+fish() -> fish.
diff --git a/inttest/tplugins/rebar.config b/inttest/tplugins/rebar.config
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0b9c887
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inttest/tplugins/rebar.config
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{plugins, [test_plugin]}.
diff --git a/inttest/tplugins/test_plugin.erl b/inttest/tplugins/test_plugin.erl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..461247c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inttest/tplugins/test_plugin.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+-module(test_plugin).
+-compile(export_all).
+
+fwibble(Config, _) ->
+    Pwd = rebar_utils:get_cwd(),
+    Ok = filelib:is_regular(filename:join(Pwd, "fwibble.test")),
+    rebar_log:log(info, "~p:~p in ~s :: ~p~n", [test_plugin, clean, Pwd, Ok]),
+    ok = file:delete("fwibble.test").
diff --git a/inttest/tplugins/tplugins_rt.erl b/inttest/tplugins/tplugins_rt.erl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d2ef382
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inttest/tplugins/tplugins_rt.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+-module(tplugins_rt).
+-compile(export_all).
+
+-include_lib("eunit/include/eunit.hrl").
+
+-define(COMPILE_ERROR,
+        "ERROR: Plugin bad_plugin contains compilation errors:").
+
+files() ->
+    [
+     {copy, "../../rebar", "rebar"},
+     {copy, "rebar.config", "rebar.config"},
+     {copy, "bad.config", "bad.config"},
+     {copy, "fish.erl", "src/fish.erl"},
+     {copy, "test_plugin.erl", "plugins/test_plugin.erl"},
+     {copy, "bad_plugin.erl", "bad_plugins/bad_plugin.erl"},
+     {create, "fwibble.test", <<"fwibble">>},
+     {create, "ebin/fish.app", app(fish, [fish])}
+    ].
+
+run(Dir) ->
+    ?assertMatch({ok, _}, retest_sh:run("./rebar fwibble -v", [])),
+    ?assertEqual(false, filelib:is_regular("fwibble.test")),
+    Ref = retest:sh("./rebar -C bad.config -v clean", [{async, true}]),
+    {ok, _} = retest:sh_expect(Ref, "ERROR: Plugin .*bad_plugin.erl "
+                               "contains compilation errors:.*",
+                               [{newline, any}]),
+    ok.
+
+%%
+%% Generate the contents of a simple .app file
+%%
+app(Name, Modules) ->
+    App = {application, Name,
+           [{description, atom_to_list(Name)},
+            {vsn, "1"},
+            {modules, Modules},
+            {registered, []},
+            {applications, [kernel, stdlib]}]},
+    io_lib:format("~p.\n", [App]).
diff --git a/rebar.config.sample b/rebar.config.sample
index 2053b8b..513daf4 100644
--- a/rebar.config.sample
+++ b/rebar.config.sample
@@ -123,6 +123,19 @@
 %% Subdirectories?
 {sub_dirs, ["dir1", "dir2"]}.
 
+%% == Plugins ==
+
+%% Plugins you wish to include.
+%% These can include any module on the code path, including deps.
+%% Alternatively, plugins can be placed as source files in the plugin_dir, in
+%% which case they will be compiled and loaded dynamically at runtime.
+{plugins, [plugin1, plugin2]}.
+
+%% Override the directory in which plugin sources can be found.
+%% Defaults to ./plugins
+{plugin_dir, "some_other_directory"}.
+
+
 %% == Pre/Post Command Hooks ==
 
 {pre_hooks, [{clean, "./prepare_package_files.sh"},
diff --git a/src/rebar_core.erl b/src/rebar_core.erl
index 75569b4..f30eb35 100644
--- a/src/rebar_core.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_core.erl
@@ -380,13 +380,57 @@ ulist([H | T], Acc) ->
 
 plugin_modules(_Config, []) ->
     {ok, []};
-plugin_modules(_Config, Modules) ->
+plugin_modules(Config, Modules) ->
     FoundModules = [M || M <- Modules, code:which(M) =/= non_existing],
-    case (Modules =:= FoundModules) of
+    plugin_modules(Config, FoundModules, Modules -- FoundModules).
+
+plugin_modules(_Config, FoundModules, []) ->
+    {ok, FoundModules};
+plugin_modules(Config, FoundModules, MissingModules) ->
+    {Loaded, NotLoaded} = load_plugin_modules(Config, MissingModules),
+    AllViablePlugins = FoundModules ++ Loaded,
+    case length(NotLoaded) > 0 of
         true ->
-            ok;
+            %% NB: we continue to ignore this situation, as did the original code
+            ?WARN("Missing plugins: ~p\n", NotLoaded);
         false ->
-            ?WARN("Missing plugins: ~p\n", [Modules -- FoundModules]),
+            ?DEBUG("Loaded plugins: ~p~n", [AllViablePlugins]),
             ok
     end,
-    {ok, FoundModules}.
+    {ok, AllViablePlugins}.
+
+load_plugin_modules(Config, Modules) ->
+    PluginDir = case rebar_config:get_local(Config, plugin_dir, undefined) of
+                    undefined ->
+                        filename:join(rebar_utils:get_cwd(), "plugins");
+                    Dir ->
+                        Dir
+                end,
+    Sources = rebar_utils:find_files(PluginDir, ".*\.erl\$"),
+    Loaded = [load_plugin(Src) || Src <- Sources],
+    FilterMissing = is_missing_plugin(Loaded),
+    NotLoaded = [V || V <- Modules, FilterMissing(V)],
+    {Loaded, NotLoaded}.
+
+is_missing_plugin(Loaded) ->
+    fun(Mod) -> not lists:member(Mod, Loaded) end.
+
+load_plugin(Src) ->
+    case compile:file(Src, [binary, return_errors]) of
+        {ok, Mod, Bin} ->
+            load_plugin_module(Mod, Bin, Src);
+        {error, Errors, _Warnings} ->
+            ?ABORT("Plugin ~s contains compilation errors: ~p~n",
+                   [Src, Errors])
+    end.
+
+load_plugin_module(Mod, Bin, Src) ->
+    case code:is_loaded(Mod) of
+        {file, Loaded} ->
+            ?ABORT("Plugin ~p clashes with previously loaded module ~p~n",
+                   [Mod, Loaded]);
+        false ->
+            ?INFO("Loading plugin ~p from ~s~n", [Mod, Src]),
+            {module, Mod} = code:load_binary(Mod, Src, Bin),
+            Mod
+    end.