diff --git a/avocado/core/dispatcher.py b/avocado/core/dispatcher.py
index a98a9ee4919ef89ffed360b233a85147d83bc42a..11494db41d7366f1f23577979ef707d7999c5821 100644
--- a/avocado/core/dispatcher.py
+++ b/avocado/core/dispatcher.py
@@ -16,10 +16,12 @@
 
 import sys
 
-from stevedore import ExtensionManager
+from stevedore import EnabledExtensionManager
 
+from .settings import settings
 
-class Dispatcher(ExtensionManager):
+
+class Dispatcher(EnabledExtensionManager):
 
     """
     Base dispatcher for various extension types
@@ -28,10 +30,21 @@ class Dispatcher(ExtensionManager):
     def __init__(self, namespace):
         self.load_failures = []
         super(Dispatcher, self).__init__(namespace=namespace,
+                                         check_func=self.enabled,
                                          invoke_on_load=True,
                                          on_load_failure_callback=self.store_load_failure,
                                          propagate_map_exceptions=True)
 
+    def enabled(self, extension):
+        namespace_prefix = 'avocado.plugins.'
+        if self.namespace.startswith(namespace_prefix):
+            namespace = self.namespace[len(namespace_prefix):]
+        else:
+            namespace = self.namespace
+        disabled = settings.get_value('plugins', 'disable', key_type=list)
+        fqn = "%s.%s" % (namespace, extension.entry_point.name)
+        return fqn not in disabled
+
     @staticmethod
     def store_load_failure(manager, entrypoint, exception):
         manager.load_failures.append((entrypoint, exception))
diff --git a/docs/source/Plugins.rst b/docs/source/Plugins.rst
index 031c511cd3216a9acc71fdbe502f06f49d00355a..411d878d061eb54846d958792ce7f081f6e4624c 100644
--- a/docs/source/Plugins.rst
+++ b/docs/source/Plugins.rst
@@ -81,6 +81,54 @@ to add to your setuptools based `setup.py` file something like::
 Then, by running either ``$ python setup.py install`` or ``$ python setup.py
 develop`` your plugin should be visible to Avocado.
 
+Fully qualified named for a plugin
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The plugin registry mentioned earlier, (`setuptools`_ and its `entry
+points`_) is global to a given Python installation.  Avocado uses the
+namespace prefix ``avocado.plugins.`` to avoid name clashes with other
+software.  Now, inside Avocado itself, there's no need keep using the
+``avocado.plugins.`` prefix.
+
+Take for instance, the Job Pre/Post plugins are defined on
+``setup.py``::
+
+  'avocado.plugins.job.prepost': [
+     'jobscripts = avocado.plugins.jobscripts:JobScripts'
+  ]
+
+The setuptools entry point namespace is composed of the mentioned
+prefix ``avocado.plugins.``, which is is then followed by the Avocado
+plugin type, in this case, ``job.prepost``.
+
+Inside avocado itself, the fully qualified name for a plugin is the
+plugin type, such as ``job.prepost`` concatenated to the name used in
+the entry point definition itself, in this case, ``jobscripts``.
+
+To summarize, still using the same example, the fully qualified
+Avocado plugin name is going to be ``job.prepost.jobscripts``.
+
+Disabling a plugin
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Even though a plugin can be installed and registered under
+`setuptools`_ `entry points`_, it can be explicitly disabled in
+Avocado.
+
+The mechanism available to do so is to add entries to the ``disable``
+key under the ``plugins`` section of the Avocado configuration file.
+Example::
+
+  [plugins]
+  disable = ['cli.hello', 'job.prepost.jobscripts']
+
+The exact effect on Avocado when a plugin is disabled depends on the
+plugin type.  For instance, by disabling plugins of type ``cli.cmd``,
+the command implemented by the plugin should no longer be available on
+the Avocado command line application.  Now, by disabling a
+``job.prepost`` plugin, those won't be executed before/after the
+execution of the jobs.
+
 Wrap Up
 ~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/etc/avocado/avocado.conf b/etc/avocado/avocado.conf
index 5570fc2d2bf6fffc5e7bb4b05c7958208ed112a1..c6ec581e00c90ff8bf411ea6b70e541550927d7b 100644
--- a/etc/avocado/avocado.conf
+++ b/etc/avocado/avocado.conf
@@ -69,6 +69,9 @@ username =
 password =
 
 [plugins]
+# Disable listed plugins completely.  Use the fully qualified plugin
+# name, as described in the Avocado documentation "Plugins" section.
+disable = []
 # Suppress notification about broken plugins in the app standard error.
 # Add the name of each broken plugin you want to suppress the notification
 # in the list. The names can be easily seen from the stderr messages. Example:
diff --git a/selftests/functional/test_basic.py b/selftests/functional/test_basic.py
index ddd0297712ffc4fb429c9c5050376173056cbe2e..72aa9683c5a7b32fe9fdf71cb53d14c800ce34e1 100644
--- a/selftests/functional/test_basic.py
+++ b/selftests/functional/test_basic.py
@@ -865,6 +865,28 @@ class PluginsTest(AbsPluginsTest, unittest.TestCase):
                          (expected_rc, result))
         self.assertNotIn('Disabled', output)
 
+    def test_disable_plugin(self):
+        os.chdir(basedir)
+        cmd_line = './scripts/avocado plugins'
+        result = process.run(cmd_line, ignore_status=True)
+        expected_rc = exit_codes.AVOCADO_ALL_OK
+        self.assertEqual(result.exit_status, expected_rc,
+                         "Avocado did not return rc %d:\n%s" %
+                         (expected_rc, result))
+        self.assertIn("Collect system information", result.stdout)
+
+        config_content = "[plugins]\ndisable=['cli.cmd.sysinfo',]"
+        config = script.TemporaryScript("disable_sysinfo_cmd.conf",
+                                        config_content)
+        with config:
+            cmd_line = './scripts/avocado --config %s plugins' % config
+            result = process.run(cmd_line, ignore_status=True)
+            expected_rc = exit_codes.AVOCADO_ALL_OK
+            self.assertEqual(result.exit_status, expected_rc,
+                             "Avocado did not return rc %d:\n%s" %
+                             (expected_rc, result))
+            self.assertNotIn("Collect system information", result.stdout)
+
     def test_Namespace_object_has_no_attribute(self):
         os.chdir(basedir)
         cmd_line = './scripts/avocado plugins'