diff --git a/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch-plugin b/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch-plugin
index 06f8c5b8c27..098d9124498 100755
--- a/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch-plugin
+++ b/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch-plugin
@@ -82,9 +82,10 @@ HOSTNAME=`hostname | cut -d. -f1`
 export HOSTNAME
 
 declare -a args=("$@")
+path_props=(-Des.path.home="$ES_HOME")
 
 if [ -e "$CONF_DIR" ]; then
-  args=("${args[@]}" -Edefault.path.conf="$CONF_DIR")
+  path_props=("${path_props[@]}" -Des.path.conf="$CONF_DIR")
 fi
 
-exec "$JAVA" $ES_JAVA_OPTS -Delasticsearch -Des.path.home="$ES_HOME" -cp "$ES_HOME/lib/*" org.elasticsearch.plugins.PluginCli "${args[@]}"
+exec "$JAVA" $ES_JAVA_OPTS -Delasticsearch "${path_props[@]}" -cp "$ES_HOME/lib/*" org.elasticsearch.plugins.PluginCli "${args[@]}"
diff --git a/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch-plugin.bat b/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch-plugin.bat
index 54c0b86b880..58b749d6b83 100644
--- a/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch-plugin.bat
+++ b/distribution/src/main/resources/bin/elasticsearch-plugin.bat
@@ -17,9 +17,14 @@ for %%I in ("%SCRIPT_DIR%..") do set ES_HOME=%%~dpfI
 
 TITLE Elasticsearch Plugin Manager ${project.version}
 
+SET path_props=-Des.path.home="%ES_HOME%"
+IF DEFINED CONF_DIR (
+  SET path_props=!path_props! -Des.path.conf="%CONF_DIR%"
+)
+
 SET args=%*
 SET HOSTNAME=%COMPUTERNAME%
 
-"%JAVA%" %ES_JAVA_OPTS% -Des.path.home="%ES_HOME%" -cp "%ES_HOME%/lib/*;" "org.elasticsearch.plugins.PluginCli" !args!
+"%JAVA%" %ES_JAVA_OPTS% !path_props! -cp "%ES_HOME%/lib/*;" "org.elasticsearch.plugins.PluginCli" !args!
 
 ENDLOCAL