diff --git a/maven-core/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/project/PomConstructionTest.java b/maven-core/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/project/PomConstructionTest.java
index 181b29986e..c7daaf7b55 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/project/PomConstructionTest.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/project/PomConstructionTest.java
@@ -1728,6 +1728,33 @@ public class PomConstructionTest
         assertEquals( actual, expected );
     }
 
+    /** MNG-4416 */
+    public void testPluginOrderAfterMergingWithInjectedPlugins()
+        throws Exception
+    {
+        PomTestWrapper pom = buildPom( "plugin-injection-merge-order" );
+
+        List<String> expected = new ArrayList<String>();
+        expected.add( "maven-it-plugin-error" );
+        expected.add( "maven-it-plugin-configuration" );
+        expected.add( "maven-it-plugin-dependency-resolution" );
+        expected.add( "maven-it-plugin-packaging" );
+        expected.add( "maven-it-plugin-log-file" );
+        expected.add( "maven-it-plugin-expression" );
+        expected.add( "maven-it-plugin-fork" );
+        expected.add( "maven-it-plugin-touch" );
+
+        List<String> actual = new ArrayList<String>();
+        for ( Plugin plugin : (List<Plugin>) pom.getValue( "build/plugins" ) )
+        {
+            actual.add( plugin.getArtifactId() );
+        }
+
+        actual.retainAll( expected );
+
+        assertEquals( actual, expected );
+    }
+
     private void assertPathSuffixEquals( String expected, Object actual )
     {
         String a = actual.toString();
diff --git a/maven-core/src/test/resources-project-builder/plugin-injection-merge-order/pom.xml b/maven-core/src/test/resources-project-builder/plugin-injection-merge-order/pom.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..76459e2d53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maven-core/src/test/resources-project-builder/plugin-injection-merge-order/pom.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+
+<!--
+Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+distributed with this work for additional information
+regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+"License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+  http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+"AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+specific language governing permissions and limitations
+under the License.
+-->
+
+<project>
+  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+
+  <groupId>org.apache.maven.its.mng4416</groupId>
+  <artifactId>test</artifactId>
+  <version>0.1</version>
+
+  <name>Maven Integration Test :: MNG-4416</name>
+  <description>
+    Test that merging of plugins during profile injection follows these rules regarding ordering:
+     model:   X ->      A -> B ->      D -> E
+     profile:      Y -> A ->      C -> D ->      F
+     result:  X -> Y -> A -> B -> C -> D -> E -> F
+  </description>
+
+  <build>
+    <plugins>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.its.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-it-plugin-error</artifactId>
+        <version>2.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+      </plugin>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.its.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-it-plugin-dependency-resolution</artifactId>
+        <version>2.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+      </plugin>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.its.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-it-plugin-packaging</artifactId>
+        <version>2.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+      </plugin>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.its.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-it-plugin-expression</artifactId>
+        <version>2.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+      </plugin>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.its.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-it-plugin-fork</artifactId>
+        <version>2.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+      </plugin>
+    </plugins>
+  </build>
+
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <id>test</id>
+      <activation>
+        <property>
+          <name>!skip-mng4416</name>
+        </property>
+      </activation>
+      <build>
+        <plugins>
+          <plugin>
+            <groupId>org.apache.maven.its.plugins</groupId>
+            <artifactId>maven-it-plugin-configuration</artifactId>
+            <version>2.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+          </plugin>
+          <plugin>
+            <groupId>org.apache.maven.its.plugins</groupId>
+            <artifactId>maven-it-plugin-dependency-resolution</artifactId>
+            <version>2.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+          </plugin>
+          <plugin>
+            <groupId>org.apache.maven.its.plugins</groupId>
+            <artifactId>maven-it-plugin-log-file</artifactId>
+            <version>2.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <configuration>
+              <logFile>target/it.properties</logFile>
+            </configuration>
+            <executions>
+              <execution>
+                <id>first</id>
+                <phase>validate</phase>
+                <goals>
+                  <goal>reset</goal>
+                </goals>
+              </execution>
+            </executions>
+          </plugin>
+          <plugin>
+            <groupId>org.apache.maven.its.plugins</groupId>
+            <artifactId>maven-it-plugin-expression</artifactId>
+            <version>2.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <configuration>
+              <outputFile>target/it.properties</outputFile>
+              <expressions>
+                <expression>project/build/plugins</expression>
+              </expressions>
+            </configuration>
+            <executions>
+              <execution>
+                <id>second</id>
+                <phase>validate</phase>
+                <goals>
+                  <goal>eval</goal>
+                </goals>
+              </execution>
+            </executions>
+          </plugin>
+          <plugin>
+            <groupId>org.apache.maven.its.plugins</groupId>
+            <artifactId>maven-it-plugin-touch</artifactId>
+            <version>2.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+          </plugin>
+        </plugins>
+      </build>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+</project>
diff --git a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/profile/DefaultProfileInjector.java b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/profile/DefaultProfileInjector.java
index 0a497d5195..7828632fe7 100644
--- a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/profile/DefaultProfileInjector.java
+++ b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/profile/DefaultProfileInjector.java
@@ -91,29 +91,49 @@ public class DefaultProfileInjector
             if ( !src.isEmpty() )
             {
                 List<Plugin> tgt = target.getPlugins();
-                Map<Object, Plugin> merged = new LinkedHashMap<Object, Plugin>( ( src.size() + tgt.size() ) * 2 );
+                Map<Object, Plugin> master = new LinkedHashMap<Object, Plugin>( tgt.size() * 2 );
 
                 for ( Plugin element : tgt )
                 {
                     Object key = getPluginKey( element );
-                    merged.put( key, element );
+                    master.put( key, element );
                 }
 
+                Map<Object, List<Plugin>> predecessors = new LinkedHashMap<Object, List<Plugin>>();
+                List<Plugin> pending = new ArrayList<Plugin>();
                 for ( Plugin element : src )
                 {
                     Object key = getPluginKey( element );
-                    Plugin existing = merged.get( key );
-                    if ( existing == null )
+                    Plugin existing = master.get( key );
+                    if ( existing != null )
                     {
-                        merged.put( key, element );
+                        mergePlugin( existing, element, sourceDominant, context );
+
+                        if ( !pending.isEmpty() )
+                        {
+                            predecessors.put( key, pending );
+                            pending = new ArrayList<Plugin>();
+                        }
                     }
                     else
                     {
-                        mergePlugin( existing, element, sourceDominant, context );
+                        pending.add( element );
                     }
                 }
 
-                target.setPlugins( new ArrayList<Plugin>( merged.values() ) );
+                List<Plugin> result = new ArrayList<Plugin>( src.size() + tgt.size() );
+                for ( Map.Entry<Object, Plugin> entry : master.entrySet() )
+                {
+                    List<Plugin> pre = predecessors.get( entry.getKey() );
+                    if ( pre != null )
+                    {
+                        result.addAll( pre );
+                    }
+                    result.add( entry.getValue() );
+                }
+                result.addAll( pending );
+
+                target.setPlugins( result );
             }
         }