diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 650ad189..1e1ebe1d 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ plymouth_time_dir = get_option('prefix') / get_option('localstatedir') / 'lib' /
 
 plymouth_runtime_dir = get_option('runstatedir') / 'plymouth'
 plymouth_runtime_theme_path = plymouth_runtime_dir / 'themes/'
+if get_option('runtime-plugins')
+  plymouth_runtime_plugin_path = plymouth_runtime_dir / 'plugins/'
+else
+  plymouth_runtime_plugin_path = plymouth_plugin_path
+endif
 
 # Dependencies
 cc = meson.get_compiler('c')
@@ -76,7 +81,7 @@ conf.set('PLY_ENABLE_TRACING', get_option('tracing'))
 conf.set_quoted('PLYMOUTH_RUNTIME_DIR', plymouth_runtime_dir)
 conf.set_quoted('PLYMOUTH_THEME_PATH', plymouth_theme_path)
 conf.set_quoted('PLYMOUTH_RUNTIME_THEME_PATH', plymouth_runtime_theme_path)
-conf.set_quoted('PLYMOUTH_PLUGIN_PATH', plymouth_plugin_path)
+conf.set_quoted('PLYMOUTH_PLUGIN_PATH', plymouth_runtime_plugin_path)
 conf.set_quoted('PLYMOUTH_POLICY_DIR', plymouth_policy_dir)
 conf.set_quoted('PLYMOUTH_CONF_DIR', plymouth_conf_dir)
 conf.set_quoted('PLYMOUTH_TIME_DIRECTORY', plymouth_time_dir)
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 4f601bb0..61fccc12 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -28,6 +28,11 @@ option('runstatedir',
   value: '/run',
   description: 'runstatedir',
 )
+option('runtime-plugins',
+  type: 'boolean',
+  value: false,
+  description: 'Use runstatedir for loading theme plugins',
+)
 option('boot-tty',
   type: 'string',
   value: '/dev/tty1',
diff --git a/src/libply-splash-core/meson.build b/src/libply-splash-core/meson.build
index 69636b13..02bd5cbd 100644
--- a/src/libply-splash-core/meson.build
+++ b/src/libply-splash-core/meson.build
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ libply_splash_core_cflags = [
   '-DPLYMOUTH_BACKGROUND_COLOR=@0@'.format(get_option('background-color')),
   '-DPLYMOUTH_BACKGROUND_START_COLOR=@0@'.format(get_option('background-start-color-stop')),
   '-DPLYMOUTH_BACKGROUND_END_COLOR=@0@'.format(get_option('background-end-color-stop')),
-  '-DPLYMOUTH_PLUGIN_PATH="@0@"'.format(plymouth_plugin_path),
+  '-DPLYMOUTH_PLUGIN_PATH="@0@"'.format(plymouth_runtime_plugin_path),
 ]
 
 libply_splash_core = library('ply-splash-core',
diff --git a/src/libply-splash-graphics/meson.build b/src/libply-splash-graphics/meson.build
index 32fad963..02b8440b 100644
--- a/src/libply-splash-graphics/meson.build
+++ b/src/libply-splash-graphics/meson.build
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ libply_splash_graphics_cflags = [
   '-DPLYMOUTH_BACKGROUND_COLOR=@0@'.format(get_option('background-color')),
   '-DPLYMOUTH_BACKGROUND_START_COLOR=@0@'.format(get_option('background-start-color-stop')),
   '-DPLYMOUTH_BACKGROUND_END_COLOR=@0@'.format(get_option('background-end-color-stop')),
-  '-DPLYMOUTH_PLUGIN_PATH="@0@"'.format(plymouth_plugin_path),
+  '-DPLYMOUTH_PLUGIN_PATH="@0@"'.format(plymouth_runtime_plugin_path),
 ]
 
 libply_splash_graphics = library('ply-splash-graphics',