diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index e8e41c68e..17c571be3 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ m4_define([mutter_micro_version], [90])
 m4_define([mutter_version],
           [mutter_major_version.mutter_minor_version.mutter_micro_version])
 
-m4_define([mutter_plugin_api_version], [3])
+m4_define([mutter_plugin_api_version], [4])
 
 AC_INIT([mutter], [mutter_version],
         [http://bugzilla.gnome.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=mutter])
diff --git a/src/compositor/meta-plugin-manager.c b/src/compositor/meta-plugin-manager.c
index 15d340b88..eee5ffad2 100644
--- a/src/compositor/meta-plugin-manager.c
+++ b/src/compositor/meta-plugin-manager.c
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ struct MetaPluginManager
 {
   MetaScreen   *screen;
 
+  gboolean plugin_load_attempted;
+
   GList /* MetaPlugin */       *plugins;  /* TODO -- maybe use hash table */
   GList                        *unload;  /* Plugins that are disabled and pending unload */
 
@@ -181,6 +183,8 @@ meta_plugin_manager_unload (MetaPluginManager *plugin_mgr)
 
   g_list_free (plugin_mgr->plugins);
   plugin_mgr->plugins = NULL;
+
+  plugin_mgr->plugin_load_attempted = FALSE;
 }
 
 static void
@@ -218,6 +222,10 @@ meta_plugin_manager_load (MetaPluginManager *plugin_mgr)
   const gchar *dpath = MUTTER_PLUGIN_DIR "/";
   GSList      *plugins, *fallback = NULL;
 
+  if (plugin_mgr->plugin_load_attempted)
+    return TRUE;
+  plugin_mgr->plugin_load_attempted = TRUE;
+
   plugins = meta_prefs_get_clutter_plugins ();
 
   if (!plugins)
@@ -312,6 +320,34 @@ meta_plugin_manager_load (MetaPluginManager *plugin_mgr)
   return FALSE;
 }
 
+/**
+ * meta_plugin_manager_initialize_early:
+ * @plugin_mgr: a #MetaPluginManager
+ *
+ * This function invokes any plugin handling code that needs to be run
+ * effectively immediately after we know which plugins are going to be
+ * used.  This means before the process has an X connection, or
+ * talks to the session manager, for example.
+ *
+ * An example intended use is claiming DBus names.
+ */
+gboolean
+meta_plugin_manager_initialize_early (MetaPluginManager *plugin_mgr)
+{
+  GList *iter;
+
+  for (iter = plugin_mgr->plugins; iter; iter = iter->next)
+    {
+      MetaPlugin *plugin = (MetaPlugin*) iter->data;
+      MetaPluginClass *klass = META_PLUGIN_GET_CLASS (plugin);
+
+      if (klass->early_initialize)
+        klass->early_initialize (plugin);
+    }
+
+  return TRUE;
+}
+
 gboolean
 meta_plugin_manager_initialize (MetaPluginManager *plugin_mgr)
 {
diff --git a/src/compositor/meta-plugin-manager.h b/src/compositor/meta-plugin-manager.h
index c438a346c..5aa8efe15 100644
--- a/src/compositor/meta-plugin-manager.h
+++ b/src/compositor/meta-plugin-manager.h
@@ -46,10 +46,11 @@
  */
 typedef struct MetaPluginManager MetaPluginManager;
 
-MetaPluginManager * meta_plugin_manager_get         (MetaScreen *screen);
+MetaPluginManager * meta_plugin_manager_get (MetaScreen *screen);
 MetaPluginManager * meta_plugin_manager_get_default (void);
 
 gboolean meta_plugin_manager_load         (MetaPluginManager *mgr);
+gboolean meta_plugin_manager_initialize_early (MetaPluginManager *plugin_mgr);
 gboolean meta_plugin_manager_initialize   (MetaPluginManager *plugin_mgr);
 gboolean meta_plugin_manager_event_simple (MetaPluginManager *mgr,
                                            MetaWindowActor   *actor,
diff --git a/src/core/main.c b/src/core/main.c
index c517b5c95..7d90ba715 100644
--- a/src/core/main.c
+++ b/src/core/main.c
@@ -539,6 +539,9 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
   /* Parse command line arguments.*/
   ctx = meta_parse_options (&argc, &argv, &meta_args);
 
+  if (meta_args.print_version)
+    version ();
+
   /* This must come before the introspect below, so we load all the plugins
    * in order to get their get_type functions.
    */
@@ -587,10 +590,18 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
     }
 #endif
 
-  meta_set_syncing (meta_args.sync || (g_getenv ("MUTTER_SYNC") != NULL));
+  /* Early initialization for plugins comes before almost anything
+     else here */
+  {
+    MetaPluginManager *mgr = meta_plugin_manager_get_default ();
 
-  if (meta_args.print_version)
-    version ();
+    if (!meta_plugin_manager_load (mgr))
+      g_error ("failed to load plugins");
+
+    meta_plugin_manager_initialize_early (mgr);
+  }
+
+  meta_set_syncing (meta_args.sync || (g_getenv ("MUTTER_SYNC") != NULL));
 
   meta_select_display (meta_args.display_name);
   
diff --git a/src/include/meta-plugin.h b/src/include/meta-plugin.h
index 36b7fbfd2..b5ac3ca94 100644
--- a/src/include/meta-plugin.h
+++ b/src/include/meta-plugin.h
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ struct _MetaPluginClass
 {
   GObjectClass parent_class;
 
+  void (*early_initialize) (MetaPlugin         *plugin);
+
   void (*start)            (MetaPlugin         *plugin);
 
   void (*minimize)         (MetaPlugin         *plugin,