diff --git a/core/src/main/java/nl/tudelft/ewi/auta/core/plugin/PluginLoader.java b/core/src/main/java/nl/tudelft/ewi/auta/core/plugin/PluginLoader.java
index e6e3dfbeee047256edfe5a89e573de689eba2ff1..92bbe1b307de73e7323b0504eda7a4605e866dce 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/nl/tudelft/ewi/auta/core/plugin/PluginLoader.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/nl/tudelft/ewi/auta/core/plugin/PluginLoader.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import java.security.PrivilegedActionException;
 import java.security.PrivilegedExceptionAction;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 /**
@@ -92,6 +93,11 @@ public class PluginLoader {
                 this.settings.get("plugins directory", String.class)
         );
 
+        if (Files.notExists(dir)) {
+            logger.warn("Plugins directory {} does not exist, skipping plugins", dir);
+            return Collections.emptyList();
+        }
+
         // Find all loadable jars in that directory
         final Collection<URL> urls;
         try (var files = Files.list(dir)) {