diff --git a/conf/defaults.ini b/conf/defaults.ini
index b5d12b62f38..bacb8195eb8 100644
--- a/conf/defaults.ini
+++ b/conf/defaults.ini
@@ -1478,6 +1478,8 @@ public_key_retrieval_disabled = false
 # Force download of the public key for verifying plugin signature on startup. If disabled, the public key will be retrieved every 10 days.
 # Requires public_key_retrieval_disabled to be false to have any effect.
 public_key_retrieval_on_startup = false
+# Enter a comma-separated list of plugin identifiers to avoid loading (including core plugins). These plugins will be hidden in the catalog.
+disable_plugins =
 
 #################################### Grafana Live ##########################################
 [live]
diff --git a/conf/sample.ini b/conf/sample.ini
index f9c7703429c..e70d3a978a0 100644
--- a/conf/sample.ini
+++ b/conf/sample.ini
@@ -1372,6 +1372,8 @@
 # Force download of the public key for verifying plugin signature on startup. If disabled, the public key will be retrieved every 10 days.
 # Requires public_key_retrieval_disabled to be false to have any effect.
 ; public_key_retrieval_on_startup = false
+# Enter a comma-separated list of plugin identifiers to avoid loading (including core plugins). These plugins will be hidden in the catalog.
+; disable_plugins =
 
 #################################### Grafana Live ##########################################
 [live]
diff --git a/docs/sources/setup-grafana/configure-grafana/_index.md b/docs/sources/setup-grafana/configure-grafana/_index.md
index 1477e3b510d..79ca5a1bc9d 100644
--- a/docs/sources/setup-grafana/configure-grafana/_index.md
+++ b/docs/sources/setup-grafana/configure-grafana/_index.md
@@ -2112,6 +2112,10 @@ Disable download of the public key for verifying plugin signature. The default i
 
 Force download of the public key for verifying plugin signature on startup. The default is `false`. If disabled, the public key will be retrieved every 10 days. Requires `public_key_retrieval_disabled` to be false to have any effect.
 
+### disable_plugins
+
+Enter a comma-separated list of plugin identifiers to avoid loading (including core plugins). These plugins will be hidden in the catalog.
+
 <hr>
 
 ## [live]
diff --git a/pkg/plugins/backendplugin/errors.go b/pkg/plugins/backendplugin/errors.go
index 59067ce29c3..b7395586c45 100644
--- a/pkg/plugins/backendplugin/errors.go
+++ b/pkg/plugins/backendplugin/errors.go
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 package backendplugin
 
-import (
-	"errors"
-)
+import "errors"
 
 var (
 	// ErrPluginNotRegistered error returned when plugin is not registered.
diff --git a/pkg/plugins/config/config.go b/pkg/plugins/config/config.go
index 3c849754084..905349bfb81 100644
--- a/pkg/plugins/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/plugins/config/config.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ type Cfg struct {
 
 	PluginSettings       setting.PluginSettings
 	PluginsAllowUnsigned []string
+	DisablePlugins       []string
 
 	// AWS Plugin Auth
 	AWSAllowedAuthProviders []string
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ type Cfg struct {
 func NewCfg(devMode bool, pluginsPath string, pluginSettings setting.PluginSettings, pluginsAllowUnsigned []string,
 	awsAllowedAuthProviders []string, awsAssumeRoleEnabled bool, awsExternalId string, azure *azsettings.AzureSettings, secureSocksDSProxy setting.SecureSocksDSProxySettings,
 	grafanaVersion string, logDatasourceRequests bool, pluginsCDNURLTemplate string, appURL string, appSubURL string, tracing Tracing, features plugins.FeatureToggles, angularSupportEnabled bool,
-	grafanaComURL string) *Cfg {
+	grafanaComURL string, disablePlugins []string) *Cfg {
 	return &Cfg{
 		log:                     log.New("plugin.cfg"),
 		PluginsPath:             pluginsPath,
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ func NewCfg(devMode bool, pluginsPath string, pluginSettings setting.PluginSetti
 		DevMode:                 devMode,
 		PluginSettings:          pluginSettings,
 		PluginsAllowUnsigned:    pluginsAllowUnsigned,
+		DisablePlugins:          disablePlugins,
 		AWSAllowedAuthProviders: awsAllowedAuthProviders,
 		AWSAssumeRoleEnabled:    awsAssumeRoleEnabled,
 		AWSExternalId:           awsExternalId,
diff --git a/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/config/config.go b/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/config/config.go
index 590b0e7826c..823e8f89ebf 100644
--- a/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/config/config.go
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ func ProvideConfig(settingProvider setting.Provider, grafanaCfg *setting.Cfg, fe
 		features,
 		grafanaCfg.AngularSupportEnabled,
 		grafanaCfg.GrafanaComURL,
+		grafanaCfg.DisablePlugins,
 	), nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/pipeline/pipeline.go b/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/pipeline/pipeline.go
index 86fac1193a8..2656bf5936c 100644
--- a/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/pipeline/pipeline.go
+++ b/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/pipeline/pipeline.go
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ func ProvideDiscoveryStage(cfg *config.Cfg, pf finder.Finder, pr registry.Servic
 			func(ctx context.Context, _ plugins.Class, b []*plugins.FoundBundle) ([]*plugins.FoundBundle, error) {
 				return discovery.NewDuplicatePluginFilterStep(pr).Filter(ctx, b)
 			},
+			func(_ context.Context, _ plugins.Class, b []*plugins.FoundBundle) ([]*plugins.FoundBundle, error) {
+				return NewDisablePluginsStep(cfg).Filter(b)
+			},
 		},
 	})
 }
diff --git a/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/pipeline/steps.go b/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/pipeline/steps.go
index 47c9b60ed04..34b4eef139b 100644
--- a/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/pipeline/steps.go
+++ b/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/pipeline/steps.go
@@ -121,3 +121,39 @@ func (v *SignatureValidation) Validate(ctx context.Context, p *plugins.Plugin) e
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+// DisablePlugins is a filter step that will filter out any configured plugins
+type DisablePlugins struct {
+	log log.Logger
+	cfg *config.Cfg
+}
+
+// NewDisablePluginsStep returns a new DisablePlugins.
+func NewDisablePluginsStep(cfg *config.Cfg) *DisablePlugins {
+	return &DisablePlugins{
+		cfg: cfg,
+		log: log.New("plugins.disable"),
+	}
+}
+
+// Filter will filter out any plugins that are marked to be disabled.
+func (c *DisablePlugins) Filter(bundles []*plugins.FoundBundle) ([]*plugins.FoundBundle, error) {
+	if len(c.cfg.DisablePlugins) == 0 {
+		return bundles, nil
+	}
+
+	disablePluginsMap := make(map[string]bool)
+	for _, pluginID := range c.cfg.DisablePlugins {
+		disablePluginsMap[pluginID] = true
+	}
+
+	res := []*plugins.FoundBundle{}
+	for _, bundle := range bundles {
+		if disablePluginsMap[bundle.Primary.JSONData.ID] {
+			c.log.Debug("Disabling plugin load", "pluginID", bundle.Primary.JSONData.ID)
+		} else {
+			res = append(res, bundle)
+		}
+	}
+	return res, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/pipeline/steps_test.go b/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/pipeline/steps_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0b4f1b3f0b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/services/pluginsintegration/pipeline/steps_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package pipeline
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/plugins"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/plugins/config"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestSkipPlugins(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := &config.Cfg{
+		DisablePlugins: []string{"plugin1", "plugin2"},
+	}
+	s := NewDisablePluginsStep(cfg)
+
+	bundles := []*plugins.FoundBundle{
+		{
+			Primary: plugins.FoundPlugin{
+				JSONData: plugins.JSONData{
+					ID: "plugin1",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			Primary: plugins.FoundPlugin{
+				JSONData: plugins.JSONData{
+					ID: "plugin2",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			Primary: plugins.FoundPlugin{
+				JSONData: plugins.JSONData{
+					ID: "plugin3",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	filtered, err := s.Filter(bundles)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, filtered, 1)
+	require.Equal(t, filtered[0].Primary.JSONData.ID, "plugin3")
+}
diff --git a/pkg/setting/setting.go b/pkg/setting/setting.go
index 57cbfff3f07..d23707f852c 100644
--- a/pkg/setting/setting.go
+++ b/pkg/setting/setting.go
@@ -243,6 +243,7 @@ type Cfg struct {
 	PluginAdminExternalManageEnabled bool
 	PluginForcePublicKeyDownload     bool
 	PluginSkipPublicKeyDownload      bool
+	DisablePlugins                   []string
 
 	PluginsCDNURLTemplate    string
 	PluginLogBackendRequests bool
diff --git a/pkg/setting/setting_plugins.go b/pkg/setting/setting_plugins.go
index 8eaaf1f8f04..29b8e9102b1 100644
--- a/pkg/setting/setting_plugins.go
+++ b/pkg/setting/setting_plugins.go
@@ -40,6 +40,14 @@ func (cfg *Cfg) readPluginSettings(iniFile *ini.File) error {
 		cfg.PluginsAllowUnsigned = append(cfg.PluginsAllowUnsigned, plug)
 	}
 
+	disablePlugins := pluginsSection.Key("disable_plugins").MustString("")
+	for _, plug := range strings.Split(disablePlugins, ",") {
+		plug = strings.TrimSpace(plug)
+		if plug != "" {
+			cfg.DisablePlugins = append(cfg.DisablePlugins, plug)
+		}
+	}
+
 	cfg.PluginCatalogURL = pluginsSection.Key("plugin_catalog_url").MustString("https://grafana.com/grafana/plugins/")
 	cfg.PluginAdminEnabled = pluginsSection.Key("plugin_admin_enabled").MustBool(true)
 	cfg.PluginAdminExternalManageEnabled = pluginsSection.Key("plugin_admin_external_manage_enabled").MustBool(false)
@@ -49,6 +57,8 @@ func (cfg *Cfg) readPluginSettings(iniFile *ini.File) error {
 		plug = strings.TrimSpace(plug)
 		cfg.PluginCatalogHiddenPlugins = append(cfg.PluginCatalogHiddenPlugins, plug)
 	}
+	// Pull disablep plugins from the catalog
+	cfg.PluginCatalogHiddenPlugins = append(cfg.PluginCatalogHiddenPlugins, cfg.DisablePlugins...)
 
 	// Plugins CDN settings
 	cfg.PluginsCDNURLTemplate = strings.TrimRight(pluginsSection.Key("cdn_base_url").MustString(""), "/")
diff --git a/pkg/setting/setting_plugins_test.go b/pkg/setting/setting_plugins_test.go
index 7b666dea6f8..781cdfbb05e 100644
--- a/pkg/setting/setting_plugins_test.go
+++ b/pkg/setting/setting_plugins_test.go
@@ -41,3 +41,20 @@ func TestPluginSettings(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, ps["plugin2"]["key3"], "value3")
 	require.Equal(t, ps["plugin2"]["key4"], "value4")
 }
+
+func Test_readPluginSettings(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("should parse disable_plugins", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cfg := NewCfg()
+		sec, err := cfg.Raw.NewSection("plugins")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		_, err = sec.NewKey("disable_plugins", "plugin1,plugin2")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		_, err = sec.NewKey("plugin_catalog_hidden_plugins", "plugin3")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		err = cfg.readPluginSettings(cfg.Raw)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, []string{"plugin1", "plugin2"}, cfg.DisablePlugins)
+		require.Equal(t, []string{"plugin3", "plugin1", "plugin2"}, cfg.PluginCatalogHiddenPlugins)
+	})
+}