diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/core/app.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/core/app.ts
index 9baf3bed20c..aa05a3ce2f7 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/core/app.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/core/app.ts
@@ -104,8 +104,8 @@ export async function resolveApp (nuxt: Nuxt, app: NuxtApp) {
       ...(config.plugins || []),
       ...config.srcDir
         ? await resolveFiles(config.srcDir, [
-          'plugins/*.{ts,js,mjs,cjs,mts,cts}',
-          'plugins/*/index.*{ts,js,mjs,cjs,mts,cts}'
+          `${config.dir?.plugins || 'plugins'}/*.{ts,js,mjs,cjs,mts,cts}`,
+          `${config.dir?.plugins || 'plugins'}/*/index.*{ts,js,mjs,cjs,mts,cts}`
         ])
         : []
     ].map(plugin => normalizePlugin(plugin as NuxtPlugin)))
diff --git a/packages/schema/src/config/_common.ts b/packages/schema/src/config/_common.ts
index 098e1ceee75..903a3ec82ab 100644
--- a/packages/schema/src/config/_common.ts
+++ b/packages/schema/src/config/_common.ts
@@ -503,6 +503,11 @@ export default defineUntypedSchema({
      * @version 3
      */
     pages: 'pages',
+    /**
+     * The plugins directory, each file of which will be auto-registered as a Nuxt plugin.
+     * @version 3
+     */
+    plugins: 'plugins',
     /**
      * The directory containing your static files, which will be directly accessible via the Nuxt server
      * and copied across into your `dist` folder when your app is generated.