diff --git a/lib/pry/config.rb b/lib/pry/config.rb
index bcd9370d..acb61c8b 100644
--- a/lib/pry/config.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/config.rb
@@ -81,6 +81,13 @@ class Pry
     # saved to hist.file at session end.
     # @return [OpenStruct]
     attr_accessor :history
+
+    # Config option for plugins:
+    # sub-options include:
+    # `plugins.enabled` (Boolean) to toggle the loading of plugins on and off wholesale. (defaults to true)
+    # `plugins.strict_loading` (Boolean) which toggles whether referring to a non-existent plugin should raise an exception (defaults to `false`)
+    # @return [OpenStruct]
+    attr_accessor :plugins
   end
 end
 
diff --git a/lib/pry/pry_class.rb b/lib/pry/pry_class.rb
index a836e005..5a2fe3d1 100644
--- a/lib/pry/pry_class.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/pry_class.rb
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ class Pry
       # we only want them loaded once per entire Pry lifetime, not
       # multiple times per each new session (i.e in debugging)
       load_rc if Pry.config.should_load_rc
-      load_plugins if Pry.config.should_load_plugins
+      load_plugins if Pry.config.plugins.enabled
       load_history if Pry.config.history.load
 
       @initial_session = false
@@ -190,7 +190,10 @@ class Pry
     config.pager = true
     config.editor = default_editor_for_platform
     config.should_load_rc = true
-    config.should_load_plugins = true
+
+    config.plugins ||= OpenStruct.new
+    config.plugins.enabled = true
+    config.plugins.strict_loading = true
 
     config.history ||= OpenStruct.new
     config.history.save = true
diff --git a/test/helper.rb b/test/helper.rb
index 237e5ec8..9aae3980 100644
--- a/test/helper.rb
+++ b/test/helper.rb
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class << Pry
     Pry.color = false
     Pry.pager = false
     Pry.config.should_load_rc = false
-    Pry.config.should_load_plugins = false
+    Pry.config.plugins.enabled = false
     Pry.config.history.load = false
     Pry.config.history.save = false
   end