diff --git a/program/include/rcmail.php b/program/include/rcmail.php
index 2327109c0..6e74560cb 100644
--- a/program/include/rcmail.php
+++ b/program/include/rcmail.php
@@ -93,6 +93,10 @@ class rcmail extends rcube
             $this->filename = $basename;
         }
 
+        // load all configured plugins
+        $this->plugins->load_plugins((array)$this->config->get('plugins', array()),
+                                     array('filesystem_attachments', 'jqueryui'));
+
         // start session
         $this->session_init();
 
@@ -124,10 +128,8 @@ class rcmail extends rcube
             $GLOBALS['OUTPUT'] = $this->load_gui(!empty($_REQUEST['_framed']));
         }
 
-        // load plugins
+        // run init method on all the plugins
         $this->plugins->init($this, $this->task);
-        $this->plugins->load_plugins((array)$this->config->get('plugins', array()),
-            array('filesystem_attachments', 'jqueryui'));
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/program/lib/Roundcube/rcube_plugin_api.php b/program/lib/Roundcube/rcube_plugin_api.php
index 6b0fe2f08..8fd3253e0 100644
--- a/program/lib/Roundcube/rcube_plugin_api.php
+++ b/program/lib/Roundcube/rcube_plugin_api.php
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ class rcube_plugin_api
     public $dir;
     public $url = 'plugins/';
     public $task = '';
+    public $initialized = false;
+
     public $output;
     public $handlers              = array();
     public $allowed_prefs         = array();
@@ -85,12 +87,20 @@ class rcube_plugin_api
     {
         $this->task   = $task;
         $this->output = $app->output;
-
         // register an internal hook
         $this->register_hook('template_container', array($this, 'template_container_hook'));
-
         // maybe also register a shudown function which triggers
         // shutdown functions of all plugin objects
+
+        foreach ($this->plugins as $plugin) {
+            // ... task, request type and framed mode
+            if (!$this->filter($plugin)) {
+                $plugin->init();
+            }
+        }
+
+        // we have finished initializing all plugins
+        $this->initialized = true;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -171,14 +181,22 @@ class rcube_plugin_api
                 // check inheritance...
                 if (is_subclass_of($plugin, 'rcube_plugin')) {
                     // ... task, request type and framed mode
-                    if (($force || !$plugin->task || preg_match('/^('.$plugin->task.')$/i', $this->task))
-                        && (!$plugin->noajax || (is_object($this->output) && $this->output->type == 'html'))
-                        && (!$plugin->noframe || empty($_REQUEST['_framed']))
-                    ) {
+
+                    // call onload method on plugin if it exists.
+                    // this is useful if you want to be called early in the boot process
+                    if (method_exists($plugin, 'onload')) {
+                        $plugin->onload();
+                    }
+
+                    // init a plugin only if $force is set or if we're called after initialization
+                    if (($force || $this->initialized)
+                        && !$this->filter($plugin))
+                    {
                         $plugin->init();
-                        $this->plugins[$plugin_name] = $plugin;
                     }
 
+                    $this->plugins[$plugin_name] = $plugin;
+
                     if (!empty($plugin->allowed_prefs)) {
                         $this->allowed_prefs = array_merge($this->allowed_prefs, $plugin->allowed_prefs);
                     }
@@ -202,6 +220,19 @@ class rcube_plugin_api
         return false;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * check if we should prevent this plugin from initialising
+     *
+     * @param $plugin
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    private function filter($plugin)
+    {
+        return (($plugin->noajax  && !(is_object($this->output) && $this->output->type == 'html') )
+             || ($plugin->task && !preg_match('/^('.$plugin->task.')$/i', $this->task))
+             || ($plugin->noframe && !empty($_REQUEST['_framed']))) ? true : false;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Get information about a specific plugin.
      * This is either provided my a plugin's info() method or extracted from a package.xml or a composer.json file