diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Security.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Security.java
index 4437097bb35..e1c6d320df6 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Security.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Security.java
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ final class Security {
         addPath(policy, Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.getKey(), environment.binFile(), "read,readlink");
         addPath(policy, Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.getKey(), environment.libFile(), "read,readlink");
         addPath(policy, Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.getKey(), environment.modulesFile(), "read,readlink");
-        addPath(policy, Environment.PATH_PLUGINS_SETTING.getKey(), environment.pluginsFile(), "read,readlink");
+        addPath(policy, Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.getKey(), environment.pluginsFile(), "read,readlink");
         addPath(policy, Environment.PATH_CONF_SETTING.getKey(), environment.configFile(), "read,readlink");
         addPath(policy, Environment.PATH_SCRIPTS_SETTING.getKey(), environment.scriptsFile(), "read,readlink");
         // read-write dirs
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ClusterSettings.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ClusterSettings.java
index 36ee01484e6..b29e7604a98 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ClusterSettings.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ClusterSettings.java
@@ -332,7 +332,6 @@ public final class ClusterSettings extends AbstractScopedSettings {
                     Environment.PATH_DATA_SETTING,
                     Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING,
                     Environment.PATH_LOGS_SETTING,
-                    Environment.PATH_PLUGINS_SETTING,
                     Environment.PATH_REPO_SETTING,
                     Environment.PATH_SCRIPTS_SETTING,
                     Environment.PATH_SHARED_DATA_SETTING,
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/Environment.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/Environment.java
index e022ce6ad2f..c44db111a5a 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/Environment.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/Environment.java
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ public class Environment {
     public static final Setting<List<String>> PATH_DATA_SETTING =
         Setting.listSetting("path.data", Collections.emptyList(), Function.identity(), Property.NodeScope);
     public static final Setting<String> PATH_LOGS_SETTING = Setting.simpleString("path.logs", Property.NodeScope);
-    public static final Setting<String> PATH_PLUGINS_SETTING = Setting.simpleString("path.plugins", Property.NodeScope);
     public static final Setting<List<String>> PATH_REPO_SETTING =
         Setting.listSetting("path.repo", Collections.emptyList(), Function.identity(), Property.NodeScope);
     public static final Setting<String> PATH_SHARED_DATA_SETTING = Setting.simpleString("path.shared_data", Property.NodeScope);
@@ -128,11 +127,7 @@ public class Environment {
             scriptsFile = configFile.resolve("scripts");
         }
 
-        if (PATH_PLUGINS_SETTING.exists(settings)) {
-            pluginsFile = PathUtils.get(cleanPath(PATH_PLUGINS_SETTING.get(settings)));
-        } else {
-            pluginsFile = homeFile.resolve("plugins");
-        }
+        pluginsFile = homeFile.resolve("plugins");
 
         List<String> dataPaths = PATH_DATA_SETTING.get(settings);
         if (dataPaths.isEmpty() == false) {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/InstallPluginCommand.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/InstallPluginCommand.java
index 95fc2373766..9e17eec2e93 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/InstallPluginCommand.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/InstallPluginCommand.java
@@ -304,7 +304,9 @@ class InstallPluginCommand extends SettingCommand {
 
                 // be on the safe side: do not rely on that directories are always extracted
                 // before their children (although this makes sense, but is it guaranteed?)
-                Files.createDirectories(targetFile.getParent());
+                if (!Files.isSymbolicLink(targetFile.getParent())) {
+                    Files.createDirectories(targetFile.getParent());
+                }
                 if (entry.isDirectory() == false) {
                     try (OutputStream out = Files.newOutputStream(targetFile)) {
                         int len;
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/RemovePluginCommand.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/RemovePluginCommand.java
index af48c1d8207..8279cc5c51f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/RemovePluginCommand.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/RemovePluginCommand.java
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class RemovePluginCommand extends SettingCommand {
 
         Path pluginDir = env.pluginsFile().resolve(pluginName);
         if (Files.exists(pluginDir) == false) {
-            throw new UserError(ExitCodes.USAGE, "Plugin " + pluginName + " not found. Run 'plugin list' to get list of installed plugins.");
+            throw new UserError(ExitCodes.USAGE, "plugin " + pluginName + " not found; run 'elasticsearch-plugin list' to get list of installed plugins");
         }
 
         List<Path> pluginPaths = new ArrayList<>();
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java
index b66f428367c..50be6e39b07 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java
@@ -220,9 +220,6 @@ public class TribeService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<TribeService> {
         if (Environment.PATH_CONF_SETTING.exists(globalSettings)) {
             sb.put(Environment.PATH_CONF_SETTING.getKey(), Environment.PATH_CONF_SETTING.get(globalSettings));
         }
-        if (Environment.PATH_PLUGINS_SETTING.exists(globalSettings)) {
-            sb.put(Environment.PATH_PLUGINS_SETTING.getKey(), Environment.PATH_PLUGINS_SETTING.get(globalSettings));
-        }
         if (Environment.PATH_LOGS_SETTING.exists(globalSettings)) {
             sb.put(Environment.PATH_LOGS_SETTING.getKey(), Environment.PATH_LOGS_SETTING.get(globalSettings));
         }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeServiceTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeServiceTests.java
index daeb80d194c..2bbedd8784b 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeServiceTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeServiceTests.java
@@ -43,13 +43,11 @@ public class TribeServiceTests extends ESTestCase {
             .put("node.name", "nodename")
             .put("path.home", "some/path")
             .put("path.conf", "conf/path")
-            .put("path.plugins", "plugins/path")
             .put("path.scripts", "scripts/path")
             .put("path.logs", "logs/path").build();
         Settings clientSettings = TribeService.buildClientSettings("tribe1", globalSettings, Settings.EMPTY);
         assertEquals("some/path", clientSettings.get("path.home"));
         assertEquals("conf/path", clientSettings.get("path.conf"));
-        assertEquals("plugins/path", clientSettings.get("path.plugins"));
         assertEquals("scripts/path", clientSettings.get("path.scripts"));
         assertEquals("logs/path", clientSettings.get("path.logs"));
 
diff --git a/docs/plugins/plugin-script.asciidoc b/docs/plugins/plugin-script.asciidoc
index 08ad129f22f..1e21288e39c 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/plugin-script.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/plugins/plugin-script.asciidoc
@@ -180,18 +180,7 @@ set ES_JAVA_OPTS="-DproxyHost=host_name -DproxyPort=port_number"
 bin/elasticsearch-plugin install analysis-icu
 -----------------------------------
 
-=== Settings related to plugins
-
-[float]
-=== Custom plugins directory
-
-The `plugins` directory can be changed from the default by adding the
-following to the `elasticsearch.yml` config file:
-
-[source,yml]
----------------------
-path.plugins: /path/to/custom/plugins/dir
----------------------
+=== Plugins directory
 
 The default location of the `plugins` directory depends on which package you install:
 
diff --git a/docs/reference/migration/migrate_5_0/plugins.asciidoc b/docs/reference/migration/migrate_5_0/plugins.asciidoc
index ae1113caa48..1578ae074df 100644
--- a/docs/reference/migration/migrate_5_0/plugins.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/migration/migrate_5_0/plugins.asciidoc
@@ -112,3 +112,8 @@ Previously, Java system properties could be passed to the plugin
 command by passing `-D` style arguments directly to the plugin script.
 This is no longer permitted and such system properties must be passed
 via ES_JAVA_OPTS.
+
+==== Custom plugins path
+
+The ability to specify a custom plugins path via `path.plugins` has
+been removed.
diff --git a/docs/reference/modules/tribe.asciidoc b/docs/reference/modules/tribe.asciidoc
index 74c383eaa9e..a1240a28f84 100644
--- a/docs/reference/modules/tribe.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/modules/tribe.asciidoc
@@ -87,7 +87,6 @@ configuration options are passed down from the tribe node to each node client:
 * `transport.publish_host`
 * `path.home`
 * `path.conf`
-* `path.plugins`
 * `path.logs`
 * `path.scripts`
 * `shield.*`
diff --git a/docs/reference/setup/install/deb.asciidoc b/docs/reference/setup/install/deb.asciidoc
index 0feba56b0b6..e02d0f84a1d 100644
--- a/docs/reference/setup/install/deb.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/setup/install/deb.asciidoc
@@ -174,7 +174,6 @@ locations for a Debian-based system:
 | plugins
   | Plugin files location. Each plugin will be contained in a subdirectory.
   | /usr/share/elasticsearch/plugins
-  | path.plugins
 
 | repo
   | Shared file system repository locations. Can hold multiple locations. A file system repository can be placed in to any subdirectory of any directory specified here.
diff --git a/docs/reference/setup/install/rpm.asciidoc b/docs/reference/setup/install/rpm.asciidoc
index 46a5c8739eb..d7f216670dc 100644
--- a/docs/reference/setup/install/rpm.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/setup/install/rpm.asciidoc
@@ -160,7 +160,6 @@ locations for an RPM-based system:
 | plugins
   | Plugin files location. Each plugin will be contained in a subdirectory.
   | /usr/share/elasticsearch/plugins
-  | path.plugins
 
 | repo
   | Shared file system repository locations. Can hold multiple locations. A file system repository can be placed in to any subdirectory of any directory specified here.
diff --git a/docs/reference/setup/install/windows.asciidoc b/docs/reference/setup/install/windows.asciidoc
index 0d2e8bf04f6..edf91e08890 100644
--- a/docs/reference/setup/install/windows.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/setup/install/windows.asciidoc
@@ -228,7 +228,6 @@ directory so that you do not delete important data later on.
 | plugins
   | Plugin files location. Each plugin will be contained in a subdirectory.
   | %ES_HOME%\plugins
-  | path.plugins
 
 | repo
   | Shared file system repository locations. Can hold multiple locations. A file system repository can be placed in to any subdirectory of any directory specified here.
diff --git a/docs/reference/setup/install/zip-targz.asciidoc b/docs/reference/setup/install/zip-targz.asciidoc
index 7fc41a0f3f8..680d698976d 100644
--- a/docs/reference/setup/install/zip-targz.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/setup/install/zip-targz.asciidoc
@@ -147,7 +147,6 @@ directory so that you do not delete important data later on.
 | plugins
   | Plugin files location. Each plugin will be contained in a subdirectory.
   | $ES_HOME/plugins
-  | path.plugins
 
 | repo
   | Shared file system repository locations. Can hold multiple locations. A file system repository can be placed in to any subdirectory of any directory specified here.
diff --git a/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/EvilSecurityTests.java b/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/EvilSecurityTests.java
index c213f18f333..df54cf87fa4 100644
--- a/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/EvilSecurityTests.java
+++ b/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/EvilSecurityTests.java
@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@ public class EvilSecurityTests extends ESTestCase {
         settingsBuilder.put(Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.getKey(), esHome.resolve("home").toString());
         settingsBuilder.put(Environment.PATH_CONF_SETTING.getKey(), esHome.resolve("conf").toString());
         settingsBuilder.put(Environment.PATH_SCRIPTS_SETTING.getKey(), esHome.resolve("scripts").toString());
-        settingsBuilder.put(Environment.PATH_PLUGINS_SETTING.getKey(), esHome.resolve("plugins").toString());
         settingsBuilder.putArray(Environment.PATH_DATA_SETTING.getKey(), esHome.resolve("data1").toString(), esHome.resolve("data2").toString());
         settingsBuilder.put(Environment.PATH_SHARED_DATA_SETTING.getKey(), esHome.resolve("custom").toString());
         settingsBuilder.put(Environment.PATH_LOGS_SETTING.getKey(), esHome.resolve("logs").toString());
diff --git a/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/RemovePluginCommandTests.java b/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/RemovePluginCommandTests.java
index 6528bbc0911..3a4639fa839 100644
--- a/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/RemovePluginCommandTests.java
+++ b/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/RemovePluginCommandTests.java
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ public class RemovePluginCommandTests extends ESTestCase {
 
     public void testMissing() throws Exception {
         UserError e = expectThrows(UserError.class, () -> removePlugin("dne", home));
-        assertTrue(e.getMessage(), e.getMessage().contains("Plugin dne not found"));
+        assertTrue(e.getMessage(), e.getMessage().contains("plugin dne not found"));
         assertRemoveCleaned(env);
     }
 
diff --git a/qa/vagrant/src/test/resources/packaging/scripts/module_and_plugin_test_cases.bash b/qa/vagrant/src/test/resources/packaging/scripts/module_and_plugin_test_cases.bash
index e20959a82e1..32118fda389 100644
--- a/qa/vagrant/src/test/resources/packaging/scripts/module_and_plugin_test_cases.bash
+++ b/qa/vagrant/src/test/resources/packaging/scripts/module_and_plugin_test_cases.bash
@@ -113,25 +113,26 @@ fi
     fi
 }
 
-@test "[$GROUP] install jvm-example plugin with a custom path.plugins" {
+@test "[$GROUP] install jvm-example plugin with a symlinked plugins path" {
     # Clean up after the last time this test was run
     rm -rf /tmp/plugins.*
+    rm -rf /tmp/old_plugins.*
 
-    local oldPlugins="$ESPLUGINS"
-    export ESPLUGINS=$(mktemp -d -t 'plugins.XXXX')
-
-    # Modify the path.plugins setting in configuration file
-    echo "path.plugins: $ESPLUGINS" >> "$ESCONFIG/elasticsearch.yml"
-    chown -R elasticsearch:elasticsearch "$ESPLUGINS"
+    rm -rf "$ESPLUGINS"
+    local es_plugins=$(mktemp -d -t 'plugins.XXXX')
+    chown -R elasticsearch:elasticsearch "$es_plugins"
+    ln -s "$es_plugins" "$ESPLUGINS"
 
     install_jvm_example
     start_elasticsearch_service
-    # check that configuration was actually picked up
+    # check that symlinked plugin was actually picked up
     curl -s localhost:9200/_cat/configured_example | sed 's/ *$//' > /tmp/installed
     echo "foo" > /tmp/expected
     diff /tmp/installed /tmp/expected
     stop_elasticsearch_service
     remove_jvm_example
+
+    unlink "$ESPLUGINS"
 }
 
 @test "[$GROUP] install jvm-example plugin with a custom CONFIG_DIR" {