diff --git a/ipatests/test_xmlrpc/test_plugins_plugin.py b/ipatests/test_xmlrpc/test_plugins_plugin.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e35d9f044
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ipatests/test_xmlrpc/test_plugins_plugin.py
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2021  FreeIPA Contributors see COPYING for license
+#
+"""Test `plugins` plugin
+"""
+
+import pytest
+
+from ipalib import api, errors
+from ipatests.test_xmlrpc.xmlrpc_test import XMLRPC_test
+
+
+@pytest.mark.tier1
+class TestPlugins(XMLRPC_test):
+    """Test `plugins` plugin
+    """
+    EXPECTED_KEYS = ("result", "count", "summary")
+
+    def run_plugins(self, *args, **options):
+        cmd = api.Command.plugins
+        cmd_result = cmd(*args, **options)
+        return cmd_result
+
+    def assert_result(self, cmd_result):
+        assert tuple(cmd_result.keys()) == self.EXPECTED_KEYS
+        result = cmd_result["result"]
+        assert isinstance(result, dict)
+
+        actual_count = cmd_result["count"]
+        assert isinstance(actual_count, int)
+        assert len(result) == actual_count
+
+        expected_summaries = (
+            f"{actual_count} plugin loaded", f"{actual_count} plugins loaded"
+        )
+        assert cmd_result["summary"] in expected_summaries
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "server", [True, False, None], ids=["server", "local", "local_default"]
+    )
+    def test_plugins(self, server):
+        options = {}
+        if server is not None:
+            options = {"server": server}
+        cmd_result = self.run_plugins(**options)
+        self.assert_result(cmd_result)
+        assert cmd_result["count"] >= 1
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("server", [True, False], ids=["server", "local"])
+    def test_plugins_with_nonexistent_argument(self, server):
+        with pytest.raises(errors.ZeroArgumentError):
+            self.run_plugins("nonexistentarg", server=server)
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("server", [True, False], ids=["server", "local"])
+    def test_plugins_with_nonexistent_option(self, server):
+        with pytest.raises(errors.OptionError) as e:
+            self.run_plugins(
+                nonexistentoption="nonexistentoption", server=server
+            )
+        assert "Unknown option: nonexistentoption" in str(e.value)