diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 2ade5c70..f79153c5 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -112,7 +112,6 @@ if(NOT EMSCRIPTEN)
 endif()
 add_subdirectory(plugin/obj_decoder)
 add_subdirectory(plugin/stl_decoder)
-
 add_subdirectory(src/engine)
 add_subdirectory(src/user)
 add_subdirectory(src/xml)
diff --git a/cmake/ShellTests.cmake b/cmake/ShellTests.cmake
index b26b1658..d2480a25 100644
--- a/cmake/ShellTests.cmake
+++ b/cmake/ShellTests.cmake
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ function(add_mujoco_shell_test TEST_NAME TARGET_BINARY)
                "CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR=${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}"
                "TARGET_BINARY=$<TARGET_FILE:${TARGET_BINARY}>"
                "TEST_TMPDIR=${TEST_TMPDIR}"
+               "MUJOCO_PLUGIN_DIR=$<TARGET_FILE_DIR:obj_decoder>"
     )
     if(WIN32)
       # Define the directory containing the mujoco DLL library so that it can be added to the PATH.
diff --git a/doc/changelog.rst b/doc/changelog.rst
index f644323d..1e8c2d2b 100644
--- a/doc/changelog.rst
+++ b/doc/changelog.rst
@@ -28,8 +28,6 @@ General
      (previously the scalar), and subsequent elements are the higher-order :ref:`polynomial<gePolynomial>` coefficients.
 
      **Migration:** Replace assignments like ``joint.stiffness = val`` with ``joint.stiffness[0] = val``.
-   - ``.obj`` and ``.stl`` decoders are now included as source when building MuJoCo with CMake. This fixes the
-     behaviour from the previous release where it required downstream code to load these plugins explicitly.
 
 
 Bug fixes
diff --git a/plugin/obj_decoder/CMakeLists.txt b/plugin/obj_decoder/CMakeLists.txt
index 689dfc51..17b67199 100644
--- a/plugin/obj_decoder/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/plugin/obj_decoder/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -12,9 +12,48 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-target_compile_definitions(mujoco PRIVATE TINYOBJLOADER_IMPLEMENTATION)
-target_sources(mujoco PRIVATE
-  obj_decoder.cc
+if(EMSCRIPTEN)
+  add_library(obj_decoder OBJECT obj_decoder.cc)
+else()
+  set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH TRUE)
+  set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH "${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}")
+
+  add_library(obj_decoder SHARED obj_decoder.cc)
+endif()
+
+target_include_directories(obj_decoder PRIVATE
+  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../..
+  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../../include
 )
 
-target_link_libraries(mujoco PRIVATE tinyobjloader)
+if(EMSCRIPTEN)
+  target_link_libraries(obj_decoder PRIVATE
+    tinyobjloader
+  )
+else()
+  target_link_libraries(obj_decoder PRIVATE
+    mujoco
+    tinyobjloader
+  )
+endif()
+
+target_compile_definitions(obj_decoder PRIVATE TINYOBJLOADER_IMPLEMENTATION)
+
+target_compile_options(obj_decoder PRIVATE
+  ${AVX_COMPILE_OPTIONS}
+  ${MUJOCO_MACOS_COMPILE_OPTIONS}
+  ${EXTRA_COMPILE_OPTIONS}
+  ${MUJOCO_CXX_FLAGS}
+)
+
+if(NOT EMSCRIPTEN)
+  target_link_options(obj_decoder PRIVATE
+    ${MUJOCO_MACOS_LINK_OPTIONS}
+    ${EXTRA_LINK_OPTIONS}
+  )
+
+  install(
+    TARGETS obj_decoder
+    LIBRARY DESTINATION "${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}/mujoco_plugin"
+  )
+endif()
diff --git a/plugin/stl_decoder/CMakeLists.txt b/plugin/stl_decoder/CMakeLists.txt
index 50eef18d..1d383632 100644
--- a/plugin/stl_decoder/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/plugin/stl_decoder/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -12,6 +12,43 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-target_sources(mujoco PRIVATE
-  stl_decoder.cc
+if(EMSCRIPTEN)
+  add_library(stl_decoder OBJECT stl_decoder.cc)
+else()
+  set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH TRUE)
+  set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH "${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}")
+
+  add_library(stl_decoder SHARED stl_decoder.cc)
+endif()
+
+target_include_directories(stl_decoder PRIVATE
+  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../..
+  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../../include
 )
+
+if(EMSCRIPTEN)
+  target_link_libraries(stl_decoder PRIVATE)
+else()
+  target_link_libraries(stl_decoder PRIVATE
+    mujoco
+  )
+endif()
+
+target_compile_options(stl_decoder PRIVATE
+  ${AVX_COMPILE_OPTIONS}
+  ${MUJOCO_MACOS_COMPILE_OPTIONS}
+  ${EXTRA_COMPILE_OPTIONS}
+  ${MUJOCO_CXX_FLAGS}
+)
+
+if(NOT EMSCRIPTEN)
+  target_link_options(stl_decoder PRIVATE
+    ${MUJOCO_MACOS_LINK_OPTIONS}
+    ${EXTRA_LINK_OPTIONS}
+  )
+
+  install(
+    TARGETS stl_decoder
+    LIBRARY DESTINATION "${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}/mujoco_plugin"
+  )
+endif()
diff --git a/sample/testspeed.cc b/sample/testspeed.cc
index f14e6572..544edfc6 100644
--- a/sample/testspeed.cc
+++ b/sample/testspeed.cc
@@ -187,6 +187,12 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
   nthread = mjMAX(1, mjMIN(maxthread, nthread));
   npoolthread = mjMAX(1, mjMIN(maxthread, npoolthread));
 
+  // load plugins from MUJOCO_PLUGIN_DIR if set
+  const char* plugin_dir = std::getenv("MUJOCO_PLUGIN_DIR");
+  if (plugin_dir) {
+    mj_loadAllPluginLibraries(plugin_dir, nullptr);
+  }
+
   // get filename, determine file type
   std::string filename(argv[1]);
   bool binary = (filename.find(".mjb") != std::string::npos);  // NOLINT
diff --git a/test/user/CMakeLists.txt b/test/user/CMakeLists.txt
index 912a26c0..7cbc667f 100644
--- a/test/user/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/user/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
 
 mujoco_test(
   user_model_test
+  PROPERTIES
+  ENVIRONMENT
+  "MUJOCO_PLUGIN_DIR=$<TARGET_FILE_DIR:obj_decoder>"
   ADDITIONAL_LINK_LIBRARIES absl::str_format
 )
 
@@ -28,10 +31,16 @@ mujoco_test(
 
 mujoco_test(
   user_flex_test
+  PROPERTIES
+  ENVIRONMENT
+  "MUJOCO_PLUGIN_DIR=$<TARGET_FILE_DIR:obj_decoder>"
 )
 
 mujoco_test(
   user_mesh_test
+  PROPERTIES
+  ENVIRONMENT
+  "MUJOCO_PLUGIN_DIR=$<TARGET_FILE_DIR:obj_decoder>"
   ADDITIONAL_LINK_LIBRARIES absl::str_format
 )
 
diff --git a/test/xml/CMakeLists.txt b/test/xml/CMakeLists.txt
index d4cefdb1..63348c62 100644
--- a/test/xml/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/xml/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ mujoco_test(xml_api_test)
 
 mujoco_test(
   xml_native_reader_test
+  PROPERTIES
+  ENVIRONMENT
+  "MUJOCO_PLUGIN_DIR=$<TARGET_FILE_DIR:obj_decoder>"
 )
 
 mujoco_test(xml_utils_test)
diff --git a/wasm/CMakeLists.txt b/wasm/CMakeLists.txt
index aa85279d..b6e28b30 100644
--- a/wasm/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/wasm/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -60,11 +60,6 @@ set_target_properties(mujoco_wasm PROPERTIES
     OUTPUT_NAME "mujoco"
 )
 
-# Link the mujoco library as a whole archive to avoid losing plugin
-# registration such as obj_decoder and stl_decoder.
-target_link_libraries(mujoco_wasm PRIVATE
-    -Wl,--whole-archive mujoco -Wl,--no-whole-archive
-    ccd lodepng tinyxml2 qhullstatic_r
-)
+target_link_libraries(mujoco_wasm ccd lodepng mujoco tinyxml2 qhullstatic_r obj_decoder stl_decoder)
 
 install(TARGETS mujoco_wasm DESTINATION ${DIVISIBLE_INSTALL_BIN_DIR})
diff --git a/wasm/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/wasm/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index f6d74289..0a21ec31 100644
--- a/wasm/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/wasm/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -53,11 +53,6 @@ add_executable(mujoco_wasm_benchmark ${MUJOCO_WASM_FILES})
 
 set_target_properties(mujoco_wasm_benchmark PROPERTIES LINK_FLAGS "${EMCC_LINKER_FLAGS_STR}")
 
-# Link the mujoco library as a whole archive to avoid losing plugin
-# registration such as obj_decoder and stl_decoder.
-target_link_libraries(mujoco_wasm_benchmark PRIVATE
-    -Wl,--whole-archive mujoco -Wl,--no-whole-archive
-    ccd lodepng tinyxml2 qhullstatic_r
-)
+target_link_libraries(mujoco_wasm_benchmark ccd lodepng mujoco tinyxml2 qhullstatic_r obj_decoder stl_decoder)
 
 install(TARGETS mujoco_wasm_benchmark DESTINATION ${DIVISIBLE_INSTALL_BIN_DIR})