diff --git a/src/lib/plugin/kpluginloader.cpp b/src/lib/plugin/kpluginloader.cpp
--- a/src/lib/plugin/kpluginloader.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/plugin/kpluginloader.cpp
@@ -243,8 +243,12 @@
     if (QDir::isAbsolutePath(directory)) {
         dirsToCheck << directory;
     } else {
-        const QStringList listPaths = QCoreApplication::libraryPaths();
-        for (const QString &libDir : listPaths) {
+        QStringList listPaths = QCoreApplication::libraryPaths();
+        // Force applicationDirPath at first position. This way
+        // Plugins may be loaded from cmake build directories so long as they
+        // are in suitable subdirectories of the bin/ folder.
+        listPaths.prepend(QCoreApplication::applicationDirPath());
+        for (const QString &libDir : qAsConst(listPaths)) {
             dirsToCheck << libDir + QLatin1Char('/') + directory;
         }
     }