diff --git a/libpurple/plugin.c b/libpurple/plugin.c
index 4f2b402..fda9add 100644
--- a/libpurple/plugin.c
+++ b/libpurple/plugin.c
@@ -1181,8 +1181,15 @@ purple_plugins_get_handle(void) {
 void
 purple_plugins_init(void) {
 	void *handle = purple_plugins_get_handle();
+	gchar **paths, **p;
 
 	purple_plugins_add_search_path(LIBDIR);
+	paths = g_strsplit(g_getenv("PURPLE_PLUGIN_PATH"), ":", -1);
+	if (paths) {
+		for (p = paths; *p; ++p)
+			if (**p) purple_plugins_add_search_path(*p);
+	}
+	g_strfreev(paths);
 
 	purple_signal_register(handle, "plugin-load",
 						 purple_marshal_VOID__POINTER,