diff --git a/crates/containerd-shim-wasmedge/src/instance.rs b/crates/containerd-shim-wasmedge/src/instance.rs
index e2757ac81..e4d1b05b2 100644
--- a/crates/containerd-shim-wasmedge/src/instance.rs
+++ b/crates/containerd-shim-wasmedge/src/instance.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
 use containerd_shim_wasm::container::{
     Engine, Instance, PathResolve, RuntimeContext, Stdio, WasiEntrypoint,
@@ -15,13 +17,8 @@ pub struct WasmEdgeEngine {
 
 impl Default for WasmEdgeEngine {
     fn default() -> Self {
-        PluginManager::load(None).unwrap();
-
         let host_options = HostRegistrationConfigOptions::default();
         let host_options = host_options.wasi(true);
-        #[cfg(all(target_os = "linux", feature = "wasi_nn", target_arch = "x86_64"))]
-        let host_options = host_options.wasi_nn(true);
-
         let config = ConfigBuilder::default()
             .with_host_registration_config(host_options)
             .build()
@@ -38,7 +35,15 @@ impl Engine for WasmEdgeEngine {
 
     fn run_wasi(&self, ctx: &impl RuntimeContext, stdio: Stdio) -> Result<i32> {
         let args = ctx.args();
-        let envs: Vec<_> = std::env::vars().map(|(k, v)| format!("{k}={v}")).collect();
+        let mut wasmedge_plugin_path: Option<PathBuf> = None;
+        let envs: Vec<_> = std::env::vars()
+            .map(|(k, v)| {
+                if k == "WASMEDGE_PLUGIN_PATH" {
+                    wasmedge_plugin_path = Some(PathBuf::from(&v));
+                }
+                format!("{k}={v}")
+            })
+            .collect();
         let WasiEntrypoint { path, func } = ctx.wasi_entrypoint();
         let path = path
             .resolve_in_path_or_cwd()
@@ -59,6 +64,8 @@ impl Engine for WasmEdgeEngine {
             None => "main".to_string(),
         };
 
+        PluginManager::load(wasmedge_plugin_path.as_deref())?;
+        let vm = vm.auto_detect_plugins()?;
         let vm = vm
             .register_module_from_file(&mod_name, &path)
             .context("registering module")?;