diff --git a/src/node/server.js b/src/node/server.js
index d2ef9334..cca76c1f 100755
--- a/src/node/server.js
+++ b/src/node/server.js
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ var plugins = require("ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pluginfw/plugins");
 var hooks = require("ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pluginfw/hooks");
 var npm = require("npm/lib/npm.js");
 
+hooks.plugins = plugins;
 
 //set loglevel
 log4js.setGlobalLogLevel(settings.loglevel);
diff --git a/src/node/utils/tar.json b/src/node/utils/tar.json
index 36276767..9bb2027e 100644
--- a/src/node/utils/tar.json
+++ b/src/node/utils/tar.json
@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@
   , "security.js"
   , "$security.js"
   , "json2.js"
-  , "pluginfw/plugins.js"
+  , "pluginfw/client_plugins.js"
+  , "pluginfw/shared.js"
   , "pluginfw/hooks.js"
   , "pluginfw/parent_require.js"
   ]
diff --git a/src/static/js/ace.js b/src/static/js/ace.js
index dabe5595..6bea8d22 100644
--- a/src/static/js/ace.js
+++ b/src/static/js/ace.js
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ require.setGlobalKeyPath("require");\n\
 <script type="text/javascript">\
   parent_req = require("ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pluginfw/parent_require");\
   parent_req.getRequirementFromParent(require, "ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pluginfw/hooks");\
-  parent_req.getRequirementFromParent(require, "ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pluginfw/plugins");\
+  parent_req.getRequirementFromParent(require, "ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pluginfw/client_plugins");\
 </script>\
 ');
 
diff --git a/src/static/js/ace2_inner.js b/src/static/js/ace2_inner.js
index 07580faa..6bf6720f 100644
--- a/src/static/js/ace2_inner.js
+++ b/src/static/js/ace2_inner.js
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ var editor, _, $, jQuery, plugins, Ace2Common;
 
 Ace2Common = require('./ace2_common');
 
-plugins = require('ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pluginfw/plugins');
+plugins = require('ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pluginfw/client_plugins');
 $ = jQuery = require('./rjquery').$;
 _ = require("./underscore");
 
diff --git a/src/static/js/pluginfw/client_plugins.js b/src/static/js/pluginfw/client_plugins.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..27350028
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/static/js/pluginfw/client_plugins.js
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+var $, jQuery;
+$ = jQuery = require("ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/rjquery").$;
+var _ = require("underscore");
+
+var pluginUtils = require('./shared');
+
+exports.loaded = false;
+exports.plugins = {};
+exports.parts = [];
+exports.hooks = {};
+exports.baseURL = '';
+
+exports.ensure = function (cb) {
+  if (!exports.loaded)
+    exports.update(cb);
+  else
+    cb();
+};
+
+exports.update = function (cb) {
+  // It appears that this response (see #620) may interrupt the current thread
+  // of execution on Firefox. This schedules the response in the run-loop,
+  // which appears to fix the issue.
+  var callback = function () {setTimeout(cb, 0);};
+
+  jQuery.getJSON(exports.baseURL + 'pluginfw/plugin-definitions.json', function(data) {
+    exports.plugins = data.plugins;
+    exports.parts = data.parts;
+    exports.hooks = pluginUtils.extractHooks(exports.parts, "client_hooks");
+    exports.loaded = true;
+    callback();
+   }).error(function(xhr, s, err){
+     console.error("Failed to load plugin-definitions: " + err);
+     callback();
+   });
+};
diff --git a/src/static/js/pluginfw/plugins.js b/src/static/js/pluginfw/plugins.js
index 9a8b7ac5..12ba94a2 100644
--- a/src/static/js/pluginfw/plugins.js
+++ b/src/static/js/pluginfw/plugins.js
@@ -1,30 +1,21 @@
-exports.isClient = typeof global != "object";
+var npm = require("npm/lib/npm.js");
+var readInstalled = require("./read-installed.js");
+var relativize = require("npm/lib/utils/relativize.js");
+var readJson = require("npm/lib/utils/read-json.js");
+var path = require("path");
+var async = require("async");
+var fs = require("fs");
+var tsort = require("./tsort");
+var util = require("util");
+var _ = require("underscore");
 
-var _;
-
-if (!exports.isClient) {
-  var npm = require("npm/lib/npm.js");
-  var readInstalled = require("./read-installed.js");
-  var relativize = require("npm/lib/utils/relativize.js");
-  var readJson = require("npm/lib/utils/read-json.js");
-  var path = require("path");
-  var async = require("async");
-  var fs = require("fs");
-  var tsort = require("./tsort");
-  var util = require("util");
-  _ = require("underscore");
-}else{
-  var $, jQuery;
-  $ = jQuery = require("ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/rjquery").$;
-  _ = require("ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/underscore");
-}
+var pluginUtils = require('./shared');
 
 exports.prefix = 'ep_';
 exports.loaded = false;
 exports.plugins = {};
 exports.parts = [];
 exports.hooks = {};
-exports.baseURL = '';
 
 exports.ensure = function (cb) {
   if (!exports.loaded)
@@ -43,7 +34,7 @@ exports.formatParts = function () {
 
 exports.formatHooks = function (hook_set_name) {
   var res = [];
-  var hooks = exports.extractHooks(exports.parts, hook_set_name || "hooks");
+  var hooks = pluginUtils.extractHooks(exports.parts, hook_set_name || "hooks");
 
   _.chain(hooks).keys().forEach(function (hook_name) {
     _.forEach(hooks[hook_name], function (hook) {
@@ -53,84 +44,6 @@ exports.formatHooks = function (hook_set_name) {
   return "<dl>" + res.join("\n") + "</dl>";
 };
 
-function loadFn(path, hookName) {
-  var functionName
-    , parts = path.split(":");
-  
-  // on windows: C:\foo\bar:xyz
-  if(parts[0].length == 1) {
-    if(parts.length == 3)
-      functionName = parts.pop();
-    path = parts.join(":");
-  }else{
-    path = parts[0];
-    functionName = parts[1];
-  }
-  
-  var fn = require(path);
-  functionName = functionName ? functionName : hookName;  
-
-  _.each(functionName.split("."), function (name) {
-    fn = fn[name];
-  });
-  return fn;
-};
-
-function extractHooks(parts, hook_set_name, normalizer) {
-  var hooks = {};
-  _.each(parts,function (part) {
-    _.chain(part[hook_set_name] || {})
-    .keys()
-    .each(function (hook_name) {
-      if (hooks[hook_name] === undefined) hooks[hook_name] = [];
-      
-      var hook_fn_name = part[hook_set_name][hook_name];
-
-      /* On the server side, you can't just
-       * require("pluginname/whatever") if the plugin is installed as
-       * a dependency of another plugin! Bah, pesky little details of
-       * npm... */
-      if (normalizer) {
-        hook_fn_name = normalizer(part, hook_fn_name);
-      }
-
-      try {
-        var hook_fn = loadFn(hook_fn_name, hook_name);
-        if (!hook_fn) {
-          throw "Not a function";
-        }
-      } catch (exc) {
-        console.error("Failed to load '" + hook_fn_name + "' for '" + part.full_name + "/" + hook_set_name + "/" + hook_name + "': " + exc.toString())
-      }
-      if (hook_fn) {
-        hooks[hook_name].push({"hook_name": hook_name, "hook_fn": hook_fn, "hook_fn_name": hook_fn_name, "part": part});
-      }
-    });
-  });
-  return hooks;
-};
-
-
-if (exports.isClient) {
-  exports.update = function (cb) {
-    // It appears that this response (see #620) may interrupt the current thread
-    // of execution on Firefox. This schedules the response in the run-loop,
-    // which appears to fix the issue.
-    var callback = function () {setTimeout(cb, 0);};
-
-    jQuery.getJSON(exports.baseURL + 'pluginfw/plugin-definitions.json', function(data) {
-      exports.plugins = data.plugins;
-      exports.parts = data.parts;
-      exports.hooks = extractHooks(exports.parts, "client_hooks");
-      exports.loaded = true;
-      callback();
-     }).error(function(xhr, s, err){
-       console.error("Failed to load plugin-definitions: " + err);
-       callback();
-     });
-  };
-} else {
-
 exports.callInit = function (cb) {
   var hooks = require("./hooks");
   async.map(
@@ -171,7 +84,7 @@ exports.update = function (cb) {
         if (err) cb(err);
         exports.plugins = plugins;
         exports.parts = sortParts(parts);
-        exports.hooks = exports.extractHooks(exports.parts, "hooks", exports.pathNormalization);
+        exports.hooks = pluginUtils.extractHooks(exports.parts, "hooks", exports.pathNormalization);
         exports.loaded = true;
         exports.callInit(cb);
       }
@@ -206,9 +119,6 @@ exports.getPackages = function (cb) {
   });
 };
 
-}
-
-
 function loadPlugin(packages, plugin_name, plugins, parts, cb) {
   var plugin_path = path.resolve(packages[plugin_name].path, "ep.json");
   fs.readFile(
diff --git a/src/static/js/pluginfw/shared.js b/src/static/js/pluginfw/shared.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4df71aee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/static/js/pluginfw/shared.js
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+var _ = require("underscore");
+
+function loadFn(path, hookName) {
+  var functionName
+    , parts = path.split(":");
+
+  // on windows: C:\foo\bar:xyz
+  if (parts[0].length == 1) {
+    if (parts.length == 3) {
+      functionName = parts.pop();
+    }
+    path = parts.join(":");
+  } else {
+    path = parts[0];
+    functionName = parts[1];
+  }
+
+  var fn = require(path);
+  functionName = functionName ? functionName : hookName;
+
+  _.each(functionName.split("."), function (name) {
+    fn = fn[name];
+  });
+  return fn;
+};
+
+function extractHooks(parts, hook_set_name, normalizer) {
+  var hooks = {};
+  _.each(parts,function (part) {
+    _.chain(part[hook_set_name] || {})
+    .keys()
+    .each(function (hook_name) {
+      if (hooks[hook_name] === undefined) hooks[hook_name] = [];
+
+      var hook_fn_name = part[hook_set_name][hook_name];
+
+      /* On the server side, you can't just
+       * require("pluginname/whatever") if the plugin is installed as
+       * a dependency of another plugin! Bah, pesky little details of
+       * npm... */
+      if (normalizer) {
+        hook_fn_name = normalizer(part, hook_fn_name);
+      }
+
+      try {
+        var hook_fn = loadFn(hook_fn_name, hook_name);
+        if (!hook_fn) {
+          throw "Not a function";
+        }
+      } catch (exc) {
+        console.error("Failed to load '" + hook_fn_name + "' for '" + part.full_name + "/" + hook_set_name + "/" + hook_name + "': " + exc.toString())
+      }
+      if (hook_fn) {
+        hooks[hook_name].push({"hook_name": hook_name, "hook_fn": hook_fn, "hook_fn_name": hook_fn_name, "part": part});
+      }
+    });
+  });
+  return hooks;
+};
+
+exports.extractHooks = extractHooks;
diff --git a/src/templates/pad.html b/src/templates/pad.html
index c1264783..425e476d 100644
--- a/src/templates/pad.html
+++ b/src/templates/pad.html
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@
                 document.domain = document.domain; // for comet
               }
 
-              var plugins = require('ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pluginfw/plugins');
+              var plugins = require('ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pluginfw/client_plugins');
               var hooks = require('ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pluginfw/hooks');
 
               plugins.baseURL = baseURL;
diff --git a/src/templates/timeslider.html b/src/templates/timeslider.html
index d02a5f64..469ddd94 100644
--- a/src/templates/timeslider.html
+++ b/src/templates/timeslider.html
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@
       document.domain = document.domain; // for comet
     }
 
-    var plugins = require('ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pluginfw/plugins');
+    var plugins = require('ep_etherpad-lite/static/js/pluginfw/client_plugins');
     plugins.baseURL = baseURL;
     
     plugins.update(function () {