diff --git a/src/node/server.js b/src/node/server.js
index 04c622197..44f0a1e3d 100755
--- a/src/node/server.js
+++ b/src/node/server.js
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ const express = require('./hooks/express');
 const hooks = require('../static/js/pluginfw/hooks');
 const pluginDefs = require('../static/js/pluginfw/plugin_defs');
 const plugins = require('../static/js/pluginfw/plugins');
+const installer = require('../static/js/pluginfw/installer');
 const {Gate} = require('./utils/promises');
 const stats = require('./stats');
 
@@ -139,6 +140,7 @@ exports.start = async () => {
     }
 
     await db.init();
+    await installer.checkForMigration();
     await plugins.update();
     const installedPlugins = Object.values(pluginDefs.plugins)
         .filter((plugin) => plugin.package.name !== 'ep_etherpad-lite')
diff --git a/src/static/js/pluginfw/installer.js b/src/static/js/pluginfw/installer.js
index b04964feb..640566ca2 100644
--- a/src/static/js/pluginfw/installer.js
+++ b/src/static/js/pluginfw/installer.js
@@ -6,11 +6,14 @@ const hooks = require('./hooks');
 const runCmd = require('../../../node/utils/run_cmd');
 const settings = require('../../../node/utils/Settings');
 const axios = require('axios');
-const {PluginManager} = require('live-plugin-manager');
+const {PluginManager} = require("live-plugin-manager");
+const {promises: fs} = require("fs");
+const path = require("path");
 const logger = log4js.getLogger('plugins');
 
 exports.manager = new PluginManager();
 
+const installedPluginsPath = path.join(settings.root, 'var/installed_plugins.json');
 
 const onAllTasksFinished = async () => {
   settings.reloadSettings();
@@ -34,6 +37,48 @@ const wrapTaskCb = (cb) => {
   };
 };
 
+const migratePluginsFromNodeModules = async () => {
+  logger.info('start migration of plugins in node_modules')
+  // Notes:
+  //   * Do not pass `--prod` otherwise `npm ls` will fail if there is no `package.json`.
+  //   * The `--no-production` flag is required (or the `NODE_ENV` environment variable must be
+  //     unset or set to `development`) because otherwise `npm ls` will not mention any packages
+  //     that are not included in `package.json` (which is expected to not exist).
+  const cmd = ['npm', 'ls', '--long', '--json', '--depth=0', '--no-production'];
+  const {dependencies = {}} = JSON.parse(await runCmd(cmd, {stdio: [null, 'string']}));
+  await Promise.all(Object.entries(dependencies).map(async ([pkg, info]) => {
+    if (pkg.startsWith(plugins.prefix) && pkg !== 'ep_etherpad-lite') {
+      await exports.install(pkg)
+    }
+  }));
+}
+
+exports.checkForMigration = async () => {
+  logger.info('check installed plugins for migration')
+
+  try {
+    await fs.access(installedPluginsPath, fs.constants.F_OK)
+  } catch (err) {
+    await migratePluginsFromNodeModules();
+  }
+
+  const fileContent = await fs.readFile(installedPluginsPath);
+  const installedPlugins = JSON.parse(fileContent.toString());
+
+  for (const plugin of installedPlugins.plugins) {
+    await exports.manager.install(plugin)
+  }
+};
+
+const persistInstalledPlugins = async () => {
+  let installedPlugins = { plugins: []};
+  for (const pkg of Object.keys(await plugins.getPackages())) {
+    installedPlugins.plugins.push(pkg)
+  }
+  installedPlugins.plugins = [...new Set(installedPlugins.plugins)];
+  await fs.writeFile(installedPluginsPath, JSON.stringify(installedPlugins));
+}
+
 exports.uninstall = async (pluginName, cb = null) => {
   cb = wrapTaskCb(cb);
   logger.info(`Uninstalling plugin ${pluginName}...`);
@@ -41,6 +86,7 @@ exports.uninstall = async (pluginName, cb = null) => {
   logger.info(`Successfully uninstalled plugin ${pluginName}`);
   await hooks.aCallAll('pluginUninstall', {pluginName});
   await plugins.update();
+  await persistInstalledPlugins();
   cb(null);
 };
 
@@ -51,6 +97,7 @@ exports.install = async (pluginName, cb = null) => {
   logger.info(`Successfully installed plugin ${pluginName}`);
   await hooks.aCallAll('pluginInstall', {pluginName});
   await plugins.update();
+  await persistInstalledPlugins();
   cb(null);
 };
 
diff --git a/src/static/js/pluginfw/plugins.js b/src/static/js/pluginfw/plugins.js
index d35d8c97a..179e016f9 100644
--- a/src/static/js/pluginfw/plugins.js
+++ b/src/static/js/pluginfw/plugins.js
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ const tsort = require('./tsort');
 const pluginUtils = require('./shared');
 const defs = require('./plugin_defs');
 const {manager} = require('./installer');
+const settings = require("../../../node/utils/Settings");
 
 const logger = log4js.getLogger('plugins');
 
@@ -84,8 +85,6 @@ exports.pathNormalization = (part, hookFnName, hookName) => {
 };
 
 exports.update = async () => {
-  await manager.install('ep_bookmark')
-  await manager.install('ep_align')
   const packages = await exports.getPackages();
   const parts = {}; // Key is full name. sortParts converts this into a topologically sorted array.
   const plugins = {};
@@ -108,31 +107,26 @@ exports.update = async () => {
 };
 
 exports.getPackages = async () => {
-  logger.info('Running npm to get a list of installed plugins...');
   let plugins = manager.list()
   let newDependencies = {}
+
   for (const plugin of plugins) {
+    if (!plugin.name.startsWith(exports.prefix)) {
+      continue;
+    }
     plugin.realPath = await fs.realpath(plugin.location);
     plugin.path = plugin.realPath;
     newDependencies[plugin.name] = plugin
   }
-  // Notes:
-  //   * Do not pass `--prod` otherwise `npm ls` will fail if there is no `package.json`.
-  //   * The `--no-production` flag is required (or the `NODE_ENV` environment variable must be
-  //     unset or set to `development`) because otherwise `npm ls` will not mention any packages
-  //     that are not included in `package.json` (which is expected to not exist).
-  const cmd = ['npm', 'ls', '--long', '--json', '--depth=0', '--no-production'];
-  const {dependencies = {}} = JSON.parse(await runCmd(cmd, {stdio: [null, 'string']}));
-  await Promise.all(Object.entries(dependencies).map(async ([pkg, info]) => {
-    if (!pkg.startsWith(exports.prefix)) {
-      delete dependencies[pkg];
-      return;
-    }
-    info.realPath = await fs.realpath(info.path);
-  }));
-  let newList = Object.assign({}, dependencies, newDependencies)
-  console.log('blub', newList)
-  return newList;
+
+  newDependencies['ep_etherpad-lite'] = {
+    name: 'ep_etherpad-lite',
+    version: settings.getEpVersion(),
+    path: path.join(settings.root, 'node_modules/ep_etherpad-lite'),
+    realPath: path.join(settings.root, 'src'),
+  }
+
+  return newDependencies;
 };
 
 const loadPlugin = async (packages, pluginName, plugins, parts) => {