diff --git a/src/ape/managers/plugins.py b/src/ape/managers/plugins.py
index 0d57635924..3f523d7d4a 100644
--- a/src/ape/managers/plugins.py
+++ b/src/ape/managers/plugins.py
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@
 
 from ape.exceptions import ApeAttributeError
 from ape.logging import logger
-from ape.plugins._utils import CORE_PLUGINS, _filter_plugins_from_dists, clean_plugin_name
+from ape.plugins._utils import CORE_PLUGINS, clean_plugin_name, get_plugin_dists
 from ape.plugins.pluggy_patch import plugin_manager as pluggy_manager
 from ape.utils.basemodel import _assert_not_ipython_check, only_raise_attribute_error
-from ape.utils.misc import _get_distributions, log_instead_of_fail
+from ape.utils.misc import log_instead_of_fail
 
 
 def valid_impl(api_class: Any) -> bool:
@@ -122,18 +122,15 @@ def _register_plugins(self):
         if self.__registered:
             return
 
-        plugins = list(
-            {n.replace("-", "_") for n in _filter_plugins_from_dists(_get_distributions())}
-        )
-        locals = [p for p in CORE_PLUGINS if p != "ape"]
-        plugin_modules = tuple([*plugins, *locals])
+        plugins = list({n.replace("-", "_") for n in get_plugin_dists()})
+        plugin_modules = tuple([*plugins, *CORE_PLUGINS])
 
         for module_name in plugin_modules:
             try:
                 module = importlib.import_module(module_name)
                 pluggy_manager.register(module)
             except Exception as err:
-                if module_name in CORE_PLUGINS:
+                if module_name in CORE_PLUGINS or module_name == "ape":
                     # Always raise core plugin registration errors.
                     raise
 
diff --git a/src/ape/plugins/_utils.py b/src/ape/plugins/_utils.py
index 7db6b82311..43d98eb666 100644
--- a/src/ape/plugins/_utils.py
+++ b/src/ape/plugins/_utils.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 from collections.abc import Iterable, Iterator, Sequence
 from enum import Enum
 from functools import cached_property
-from pathlib import Path
 from shutil import which
 from typing import Any, Optional
 
@@ -25,12 +24,18 @@
 PIP_COMMAND = ["uv", "pip"] if which("uv") else [sys.executable, "-m", "pip"]
 PLUGIN_PATTERN = re.compile(r"\bape_\w+(?!\S)")
 CORE_PLUGINS = [
-    "ape",
-    *[
-        f.name
-        for f in Path(__file__).parent.parent.parent.iterdir()
-        if f.name.startswith("ape_") and f.is_dir() and re.match(PLUGIN_PATTERN, f.name)
-    ],
+    "ape_accounts",
+    "ape_cache",
+    "ape_compile",
+    "ape_console",
+    "ape_ethereum",
+    "ape_node",
+    "ape_init",
+    "ape_networks",
+    "ape_plugins",
+    "ape_pm",
+    "ape_run",
+    "ape_test",
 ]
 
 
@@ -38,6 +43,10 @@ def clean_plugin_name(name: str) -> str:
     return name.replace("_", "-").replace("ape-", "")
 
 
+def get_plugin_dists():
+    return _filter_plugins_from_dists(_get_distributions())
+
+
 def _filter_plugins_from_dists(dists: Iterable) -> Iterator[str]:
     for dist in dists:
         if name := getattr(dist, "name", ""):
@@ -384,7 +393,7 @@ def check_installed(self, use_cache: bool = True) -> bool:
         if not use_cache:
             _get_distributions.cache_clear()
 
-        return any(n == self.package_name for n in _filter_plugins_from_dists(_get_distributions()))
+        return any(n == self.package_name for n in get_plugin_dists())
 
     def _prepare_install(
         self, upgrade: bool = False, skip_confirmation: bool = False
diff --git a/src/ape_plugins/_cli.py b/src/ape_plugins/_cli.py
index 9bdc23dbe7..60e563e419 100644
--- a/src/ape_plugins/_cli.py
+++ b/src/ape_plugins/_cli.py
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@
     PluginMetadata,
     PluginMetadataList,
     PluginType,
-    _filter_plugins_from_dists,
     ape_version,
+    get_plugin_dists,
 )
-from ape.utils.misc import _get_distributions, load_config
+from ape.utils.misc import load_config
 
 
 @click.group(short_help="Manage ape plugins")
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ def _change_version(spec: str):
     # NOTE: It is possible plugins may depend on each other and may update in
     #   an order causing some error codes to pop-up, so we ignore those for now.
     plugin_retcode = 0
-    for plugin in _filter_plugins_from_dists(_get_distributions()):
+    for plugin in get_plugin_dists():
         logger.info(f"Updating {plugin} ...")
         name = plugin.split("=")[0].strip()
         retcode = _install(name, spec, exit_on_fail=False)
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_plugins.py b/tests/functional/test_plugins.py
index 825004ea51..89b9531aa3 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_plugins.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_plugins.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 from ape.exceptions import PluginVersionError
 from ape.logging import LogLevel
 from ape.managers.plugins import _get_unimplemented_methods_warning
+from ape.plugins._utils import CORE_PLUGINS as CORE_PLUGINS_LIST
 from ape.plugins._utils import (
     ApePluginsRepr,
     ModifyPluginResultHandler,
@@ -388,3 +389,11 @@ def test_get_unimplemented_methods_warning_list_containing_plugin(abstract_metho
         "Remaining abstract methods: 'serialize_transaction, txn_hash'."
     )
     assert actual == expected
+
+
+def test_core_plugins():
+    # In case any of these happen to be installed, and this feature
+    # is broken, it will fail. If none are installed, the test will always pass.
+    non_core_plugins = ("ape_arbitrum", "ape_vyper", "ape_solidity", "ape_ens")
+    assert not any(p in CORE_PLUGINS_LIST for p in non_core_plugins)
+    assert "ape_ethereum" in CORE_PLUGINS_LIST