diff --git a/Source/CMakeLists.txt b/Source/CMakeLists.txt
index 1392cec..423bc03 100644
--- a/Source/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Source/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -62,6 +62,13 @@ else()
 endif()
 
 
+# External plugins (*.fip) are loaded from the directory of the executable when the library is initialized.
+# Disable it to prevent loading of any code which is not a part of the library itself.
+option(FREEIMAGE_WITH_EXTERNAL_PLUGINS "Load external plugins (*.fip) at startup" ON)
+if (FREEIMAGE_WITH_EXTERNAL_PLUGINS)
+    target_compile_definitions(FreeImage PUBLIC "-DFREEIMAGE_WITH_EXTERNAL_PLUGINS=1")
+endif()
+
 target_link_libraries(FreeImage PRIVATE LibYato)
 target_link_libraries(FreeImage PRIVATE LibZLIB)
 
diff --git a/Source/FreeImage/FreeImage.cpp b/Source/FreeImage/FreeImage.cpp
index a6a4c0e..efa4a68 100644
--- a/Source/FreeImage/FreeImage.cpp
+++ b/Source/FreeImage/FreeImage.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,13 @@
 
 static const char *s_copyright = "This program uses FreeImage, a free, open source image library supporting all common bitmap formats. See http://freeimage.sourceforge.net for details";
 
+// Loading of the external plugins (*.fip) at the library startup, see FREEIMAGE_WITH_EXTERNAL_PLUGINS in CMake
+#if FREEIMAGE_WITH_EXTERNAL_PLUGINS
+# define FREEIMAGE_LOAD_LOCAL_PLUGINS_ONLY FALSE
+#else
+# define FREEIMAGE_LOAD_LOCAL_PLUGINS_ONLY TRUE
+#endif
+
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 #if defined(_WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__)
@@ -46,7 +53,7 @@ FIBOOL APIENTRY
 DllMain(HANDLE hModule, uint32_t ul_reason_for_call, LPVOID lpReserved) {
 	switch (ul_reason_for_call) {
 		case DLL_PROCESS_ATTACH :
-			FreeImage_Initialise(FALSE);
+			FreeImage_Initialise(FREEIMAGE_LOAD_LOCAL_PLUGINS_ONLY);
 			break;
 
 		case DLL_PROCESS_DETACH :
@@ -72,7 +79,7 @@ void FreeImage_SO_Initialise() __attribute__((constructor));
 void FreeImage_SO_DeInitialise() __attribute__((destructor));
 
 void FreeImage_SO_Initialise() {
-    FreeImage_Initialise(FALSE);
+    FreeImage_Initialise(FREEIMAGE_LOAD_LOCAL_PLUGINS_ONLY);
 }
 
 void FreeImage_SO_DeInitialise() {
diff --git a/Source/FreeImage/Plugin.cpp b/Source/FreeImage/Plugin.cpp
index d8901be..e0f1c12 100644
--- a/Source/FreeImage/Plugin.cpp
+++ b/Source/FreeImage/Plugin.cpp
@@ -650,7 +650,7 @@ FreeImage_Initialise(FIBOOL load_local_plugins_only) {
 	auto& plugins = PluginsRegistrySingleton::Instance();
 	if (plugins.AddRef()) {
 		// external plugin initialization
-#ifdef _WIN32
+#if defined(_WIN32) && FREEIMAGE_WITH_EXTERNAL_PLUGINS
 		if (!load_local_plugins_only) {
 			int count = 0;
 			char buffer[MAX_PATH + 200];
@@ -706,7 +706,7 @@ FreeImage_Initialise(FIBOOL load_local_plugins_only) {
 				SetCurrentDirectoryW(current_dir);
 			}
 		}
-#endif // _WIN32
+#endif // _WIN32 && FREEIMAGE_WITH_EXTERNAL_PLUGINS
 	}
 }