diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index fa7754971..2199d6fd0 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
     "indent-string": "^4.0.0",
     "is-wsl": "^2.2.0",
     "js-yaml": "^3.14.1",
+    "minimatch": "^9.0.3",
     "natural-orderby": "^2.0.3",
     "object-treeify": "^1.1.33",
     "password-prompt": "^1.1.3",
diff --git a/src/config/config.ts b/src/config/config.ts
index 43988b92d..53943cac3 100644
--- a/src/config/config.ts
+++ b/src/config/config.ts
@@ -381,6 +381,7 @@ export class Config implements IConfig {
       dataDir: this.dataDir,
       devPlugins: this.options.devPlugins,
       force: opts?.force ?? false,
+      pluginAdditions: this.options.pluginAdditions,
       rootPlugin: this.rootPlugin,
       userPlugins: this.options.userPlugins,
     })
diff --git a/src/config/plugin-loader.ts b/src/config/plugin-loader.ts
index ea466387d..f54fc0468 100644
--- a/src/config/plugin-loader.ts
+++ b/src/config/plugin-loader.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import {minimatch} from 'minimatch'
 import {join} from 'node:path'
 
 import {PJSON} from '../interfaces'
@@ -22,10 +23,19 @@ type LoadOpts = {
   force?: boolean
   rootPlugin: IPlugin
   userPlugins?: boolean
+  pluginAdditions?: {
+    core?: string[]
+    dev?: string[]
+    path?: string
+  }
 }
 
 type PluginsMap = Map<string, IPlugin>
 
+function findMatchingDependencies(dependencies: Record<string, string>, patterns: string[]): string[] {
+  return Object.keys(dependencies).filter((p) => patterns.some((w) => minimatch(p, w)))
+}
+
 export default class PluginLoader {
   public errors: (Error | string)[] = []
   public plugins: PluginsMap = new Map()
@@ -73,8 +83,23 @@ export default class PluginLoader {
   }
 
   private async loadCorePlugins(opts: LoadOpts): Promise<void> {
-    if (opts.rootPlugin.pjson.oclif.plugins) {
-      await this.loadPlugins(opts.rootPlugin.root, 'core', opts.rootPlugin.pjson.oclif.plugins)
+    const {plugins: corePlugins} = opts.rootPlugin.pjson.oclif
+    if (corePlugins) {
+      const plugins = findMatchingDependencies(opts.rootPlugin.pjson.dependencies ?? {}, corePlugins)
+      await this.loadPlugins(opts.rootPlugin.root, 'core', plugins)
+    }
+
+    const {core: pluginAdditionsCore, path} = opts.pluginAdditions ?? {core: []}
+    if (pluginAdditionsCore) {
+      if (path) {
+        // If path is provided, load plugins from the path
+        const pjson = await readJson<PJSON>(join(path, 'package.json'))
+        const plugins = findMatchingDependencies(pjson.dependencies ?? {}, pluginAdditionsCore)
+        await this.loadPlugins(path, 'core', plugins)
+      } else {
+        const plugins = findMatchingDependencies(opts.rootPlugin.pjson.dependencies ?? {}, pluginAdditionsCore)
+        await this.loadPlugins(opts.rootPlugin.root, 'core', plugins)
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -84,7 +109,26 @@ export default class PluginLoader {
       if (isProd()) return
       try {
         const {devPlugins} = opts.rootPlugin.pjson.oclif
-        if (devPlugins) await this.loadPlugins(opts.rootPlugin.root, 'dev', devPlugins)
+        if (devPlugins) {
+          const allDeps = {...opts.rootPlugin.pjson.dependencies, ...opts.rootPlugin.pjson.devDependencies}
+          const plugins = findMatchingDependencies(allDeps ?? {}, devPlugins)
+          await this.loadPlugins(opts.rootPlugin.root, 'dev', plugins)
+        }
+
+        const {dev: pluginAdditionsDev, path} = opts.pluginAdditions ?? {core: []}
+        if (pluginAdditionsDev) {
+          if (path) {
+            // If path is provided, load plugins from the path
+            const pjson = await readJson<PJSON>(join(path, 'package.json'))
+            const allDeps = {...pjson.dependencies, ...pjson.devDependencies}
+            const plugins = findMatchingDependencies(allDeps ?? {}, pluginAdditionsDev)
+            await this.loadPlugins(path, 'dev', plugins)
+          } else {
+            const allDeps = {...opts.rootPlugin.pjson.dependencies, ...opts.rootPlugin.pjson.devDependencies}
+            const plugins = findMatchingDependencies(allDeps ?? {}, pluginAdditionsDev)
+            await this.loadPlugins(opts.rootPlugin.root, 'dev', plugins)
+          }
+        }
       } catch (error: any) {
         process.emitWarning(error)
       }
@@ -140,7 +184,14 @@ export default class PluginLoader {
             parent.children.push(instance)
           }
 
-          await this.loadPlugins(instance.root, type, instance.pjson.oclif.plugins || [], instance)
+          if (instance.pjson.oclif.plugins) {
+            const allDeps =
+              type === 'dev'
+                ? {...instance.pjson.dependencies, ...instance.pjson.devDependencies}
+                : instance.pjson.dependencies
+            const plugins = findMatchingDependencies(allDeps ?? {}, instance.pjson.oclif.plugins)
+            await this.loadPlugins(instance.root, type, plugins, instance)
+          }
         } catch (error: any) {
           this.errors.push(error)
         }
diff --git a/src/interfaces/plugin.ts b/src/interfaces/plugin.ts
index 28945e1a6..a263b2aa6 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/plugin.ts
+++ b/src/interfaces/plugin.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@ export interface Options extends PluginOptions {
   devPlugins?: boolean
   enablePerf?: boolean
   jitPlugins?: boolean
+  pluginAdditions?: {
+    core?: string[]
+    dev?: string[]
+    path?: string
+  }
   plugins?: Map<string, Plugin>
   userPlugins?: boolean
   version?: string
diff --git a/test/config/fixtures/wildcard/package.json b/test/config/fixtures/wildcard/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..494cc6f88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/fixtures/wildcard/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+{
+  "name": "wildcard-plugins-fixture",
+  "version": "0.0.0",
+  "description": "fixture for testing wildcard plugins",
+  "private": true,
+  "files": [],
+  "dependencies": {
+    "@oclif/core": "^3",
+    "@oclif/plugin-help": "^6",
+    "@oclif/plugin-plugins": "^4"
+  },
+  "oclif": {
+    "commands": "./lib/commands",
+    "topicSeparator": " ",
+    "plugins": [
+      "@oclif/plugin-*"
+    ]
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/config/fixtures/wildcard/src/commands/foo.ts b/test/config/fixtures/wildcard/src/commands/foo.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..111b558da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/fixtures/wildcard/src/commands/foo.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+import {Command} from '../../../../../../src/index'
+
+export default class Foo extends Command {
+  public static description = 'foo description'
+  public async run(): Promise<void> {
+    this.log('hello world!')
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/config/fixtures/wildcard/tsconfig.json b/test/config/fixtures/wildcard/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8d0083147
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/fixtures/wildcard/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "outDir": "./lib",
+    "rootDirs": ["./src"]
+  },
+  "include": ["./src/**/*"]
+}
diff --git a/test/config/wildcard-plugins.test.ts b/test/config/wildcard-plugins.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f381d9285
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/wildcard-plugins.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import {expect} from 'chai'
+import {resolve} from 'node:path'
+import {SinonSandbox, createSandbox} from 'sinon'
+
+import {run, ux} from '../../src/index'
+
+describe('plugins defined as patterns in package.json', () => {
+  let sandbox: SinonSandbox
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    sandbox = createSandbox()
+    sandbox.stub(ux.write, 'stdout')
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    sandbox.restore()
+  })
+
+  it('should load all core plugins in dependencies that match pattern', async () => {
+    const result = (await run(['plugins', '--core'], {
+      root: resolve(__dirname, 'fixtures/wildcard/package.json'),
+      pluginAdditions: {
+        core: ['@oclif/plugin-*'],
+        path: resolve(__dirname, '..', '..'),
+      },
+    })) as Array<{name: string; type: string}>
+
+    expect(result.length).to.equal(3)
+    const rootPlugin = result.find((r) => r.name === 'wildcard-plugins-fixture')
+    const pluginHelp = result.find((r) => r.name === '@oclif/plugin-help')
+    const pluginPlugins = result.find((r) => r.name === '@oclif/plugin-plugins')
+
+    expect(rootPlugin).to.exist
+    expect(pluginHelp).to.exist
+    expect(pluginPlugins).to.exist
+  })
+
+  it('should load all dev plugins in dependencies and devDependencies that match pattern', async () => {
+    const result = (await run(['plugins', '--core'], {
+      root: resolve(__dirname, 'fixtures/wildcard/package.json'),
+      pluginAdditions: {
+        dev: ['@oclif/plugin-*'],
+        path: resolve(__dirname, '..', '..'),
+      },
+    })) as Array<{name: string; type: string}>
+
+    expect(result.length).to.equal(3)
+    const rootPlugin = result.find((r) => r.name === 'wildcard-plugins-fixture')
+    const pluginHelp = result.find((r) => r.name === '@oclif/plugin-help')
+    const pluginPlugins = result.find((r) => r.name === '@oclif/plugin-plugins')
+
+    expect(rootPlugin).to.exist
+    expect(pluginHelp).to.exist
+    expect(pluginPlugins).to.exist
+  })
+})