diff --git a/shell/main.cpp b/shell/main.cpp
--- a/shell/main.cpp
+++ b/shell/main.cpp
@@ -88,6 +88,11 @@
 
     app.setQuitOnLastWindowClosed(false);
 
+
+    KSharedConfig::Ptr startupConf = KSharedConfig::openConfig(QStringLiteral("plasmarc"));
+    KConfigGroup startupConfGroup(startupConf, "Shell");
+    const QString defaultShell = startupConfGroup.readEntry("ShellPackage", "org.kde.plasma.desktop");
+
     {
     QCommandLineParser cliOptions;
 
@@ -101,7 +106,7 @@
 
     QCommandLineOption shellPluginOption(QStringList() << QStringLiteral("p") << QStringLiteral("shell-plugin"),
                                          i18n("Force loading the given shell plugin"),
-                                         QStringLiteral("plugin"), QStringLiteral("org.kde.plasma.desktop"));
+                                         QStringLiteral("plugin"), defaultShell);
 
     QCommandLineOption standaloneOption(QStringList() << QStringLiteral("a") << QStringLiteral("standalone"),
                                         i18n("Load plasmashell as a standalone application, needs the shell-plugin option to be specified"));