diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4ad15747d..6b7b187d9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,5 +14,6 @@ dump.rdb
 test/e2e/reports
 coverage/
 
+plugins.json
 plugins/*
 !plugins/coral-plugin-facebook-auth
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/PLUGINS.md b/PLUGINS.md
index e5cf8d760..8bf00229d 100644
--- a/PLUGINS.md
+++ b/PLUGINS.md
@@ -3,11 +3,18 @@
 Plugins for Talk can take various forms, currently we are only supporting server
 side plugins.
 
-## Plugin Registration: `plugins.json`
+## Plugin Registration
 
-All plugins must be registered in the root file `plugins.json`.
+The parsing order for the plugin registration is as follows:
 
-The format for this file is thus:
+- `TALK_PLUGINS_JSON` environment variable
+- `plugins.json` file
+- `plugins.default.json` file
+
+If you need to "disable all plugins", you can simply provide `{}` as the
+contents of `process.env.TALK_PLUGINS_JSON` or the `plugins.json`.
+
+The format for this is thus:
 
 ```json
 {
@@ -18,7 +25,7 @@ The format for this file is thus:
 ```
 
 Where we have a `server` key with an array of plugins that match the folder
-name in the `plugins/` folder. For example, the above `plugins.json` would
+name in the `plugins/` folder. For example, the above config would
 require a plugin from `plugins/people`, which must provide a `index.js` file
 that returns an object that matches the Plugin Specification.
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b88138425..ef621b59c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ available in the format: `<scheme>://<host>` without the path.
 - `TALK_INSTALL_LOCK` (_optional for dynamic setup_) - Defaults to `FALSE`. When `TRUE`, disables the dynamic setup endpoint.
 - `TALK_RECAPTCHA_SECRET` (*required for reCAPTCHA support*) - server secret used for enabling reCAPTCHA powered logins. If not provided it will instead default to providing only a time based lockout.
 - `TALK_RECAPTCHA_PUBLIC` (*required for reCAPTCHA support*) - client secret used for enabling reCAPTCHA powered logins. If not provided it will instead default to providing only a time based lockout.
+- `TALK_PLUGINS_JSON` (_optional_) - used to specify the plugin config via the environment
 
 Refer to the wiki page on [Configuration Loading](https://github.com/coralproject/talk/wiki/Configuration-Loading) for
 alternative methods of loading configuration during development.
diff --git a/plugins.json b/plugins.default.json
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins.json
rename to plugins.default.json
diff --git a/plugins.js b/plugins.js
index 9120c8d71..949a5b9ab 100644
--- a/plugins.js
+++ b/plugins.js
@@ -13,10 +13,23 @@ let plugins = {};
 // file isn't loaded, but continuing. Else, like a parsing error, throw it and
 // crash the program.
 try {
-  plugins = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, 'plugins.json'), 'utf8'));
+  let defaultPlugins = path.join(__dirname, 'plugins.default.json');
+  let customPlugins = path.join(__dirname, 'plugins.json');
+  let envPluginJSON = process.env.TALK_PLUGINS_JSON;
+
+  if (envPluginJSON && envPluginJSON.length > 0) {
+    debug('Now using TALK_PLUGINS_JSON environment variable for plugins');
+    plugins = JSON.parse(envPluginJSON);
+  } else if (fs.existsSync(customPlugins)) {
+    debug(`Now using ${customPlugins} for plugins`);
+    plugins = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(customPlugins, 'utf8'));
+  } else {
+    debug(`Now using ${defaultPlugins} for plugins`);
+    plugins = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(defaultPlugins, 'utf8'));
+  }
 } catch (err) {
   if (err.code === 'ENOENT') {
-    console.error('plugins.json not found, plugins will not be active');
+    console.error('plugins.json and plugins.default.json not found, plugins will not be active');
   } else {
     throw err;
   }