diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/Node.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/Node.java
index 2d529ccfd3b..0fc2d98c1b8 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/Node.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/Node.java
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ public class Node implements Closeable {
             final ClusterService clusterService = new ClusterService(settings, settingsModule.getClusterSettings(), threadPool);
             clusterService.add(scriptModule.getScriptService());
             resourcesToClose.add(clusterService);
-            final TribeService tribeService = new TribeService(settings, clusterService, nodeEnvironment.nodeId());
+            final TribeService tribeService = new TribeService(settings, clusterService, nodeEnvironment.nodeId(), classpathPlugins);
             resourcesToClose.add(tribeService);
             final IngestService ingestService = new IngestService(settings, threadPool, this.environment,
                 scriptModule.getScriptService(), analysisModule.getAnalysisRegistry(), pluginsService.filterPlugins(IngestPlugin.class));
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeClientNode.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeClientNode.java
index 02957ab99a4..d9520aef768 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeClientNode.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeClientNode.java
@@ -24,13 +24,13 @@ import org.elasticsearch.env.Environment;
 import org.elasticsearch.node.Node;
 import org.elasticsearch.plugins.Plugin;
 
-import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Collection;
 
 /**
  * An internal node that connects to a remove cluster, as part of a tribe node.
  */
 class TribeClientNode extends Node {
-    TribeClientNode(Settings settings) {
-        super(new Environment(settings), Collections.<Class<? extends Plugin>>emptyList());
+    TribeClientNode(Settings settings, Collection<Class<? extends Plugin>> classpathPlugins) {
+        super(new Environment(settings), classpathPlugins);
     }
 }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java
index 99f6c696e66..fd697340cd7 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java
@@ -58,10 +58,12 @@ import org.elasticsearch.env.Environment;
 import org.elasticsearch.env.NodeEnvironment;
 import org.elasticsearch.gateway.GatewayService;
 import org.elasticsearch.node.Node;
+import org.elasticsearch.plugins.Plugin;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.RestStatus;
 import org.elasticsearch.transport.TransportSettings;
 
 import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.EnumSet;
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -182,7 +184,8 @@ public class TribeService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent {
 
     private final List<Node> nodes = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>();
 
-    public TribeService(Settings settings, ClusterService clusterService, final String tribeNodeId) {
+    public TribeService(Settings settings, ClusterService clusterService, final String tribeNodeId,
+                        Collection<Class<? extends Plugin>> classpathPlugins) {
         super(settings);
         this.clusterService = clusterService;
         Map<String, Settings> nodesSettings = new HashMap<>(settings.getGroups("tribe", true));
@@ -190,7 +193,7 @@ public class TribeService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent {
         nodesSettings.remove("on_conflict"); // remove prefix settings that don't indicate a client
         for (Map.Entry<String, Settings> entry : nodesSettings.entrySet()) {
             Settings clientSettings = buildClientSettings(entry.getKey(), tribeNodeId, settings, entry.getValue());
-            nodes.add(new TribeClientNode(clientSettings));
+            nodes.add(new TribeClientNode(clientSettings, classpathPlugins));
         }
 
         this.blockIndicesMetadata = BLOCKS_METADATA_INDICES_SETTING.get(settings).toArray(Strings.EMPTY_ARRAY);
diff --git a/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeUnitTests.java b/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeUnitTests.java
index 404d4495894..0171dfb99d1 100644
--- a/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeUnitTests.java
+++ b/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeUnitTests.java
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import org.junit.BeforeClass;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.Collections;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.either;
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.equalTo;
@@ -71,14 +72,14 @@ public class TribeUnitTests extends ESTestCase {
                 .put("cluster.name", "tribe1")
                 .put("node.name", "tribe1_node")
                     .put(NodeEnvironment.NODE_ID_SEED_SETTING.getKey(), random().nextLong())
-                .build()).start();
+                .build(), Collections.emptyList()).start();
         tribe2 = new TribeClientNode(
             Settings.builder()
                 .put(baseSettings)
                 .put("cluster.name", "tribe2")
                 .put("node.name", "tribe2_node")
                     .put(NodeEnvironment.NODE_ID_SEED_SETTING.getKey(), random().nextLong())
-                .build()).start();
+                .build(), Collections.emptyList()).start();
     }
 
     @AfterClass