diff --git a/internal/plugin/installer/base.go b/internal/plugin/installer/base.go
index c21a245a8..0b7a997fb 100644
--- a/internal/plugin/installer/base.go
+++ b/internal/plugin/installer/base.go
@@ -30,9 +30,17 @@ type base struct {
 
 func newBase(source string) base {
 	settings := cli.New()
+	pluginsDirectory := settings.PluginsDirectory
+	for _, dir := range filepath.SplitList(settings.PluginsDirectory) {
+		if dir != "" {
+			pluginsDirectory = dir
+			break
+		}
+	}
+
 	return base{
 		Source:           source,
-		PluginsDirectory: settings.PluginsDirectory,
+		PluginsDirectory: pluginsDirectory,
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/plugin/installer/base_test.go b/internal/plugin/installer/base_test.go
index 62b77bde5..d5da12040 100644
--- a/internal/plugin/installer/base_test.go
+++ b/internal/plugin/installer/base_test.go
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ limitations under the License.
 package installer // import "helm.sh/helm/v4/internal/plugin/installer"
 
 import (
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
 
@@ -27,11 +29,22 @@ func TestPath(t *testing.T) {
 			source:         "",
 			helmPluginsDir: "/helm/data/plugins",
 			expectPath:     "",
-		}, {
+		},
+		{
 			source:         "https://github.com/jkroepke/helm-secrets",
 			helmPluginsDir: "/helm/data/plugins",
 			expectPath:     "/helm/data/plugins/helm-secrets",
 		},
+		{
+			source:         "https://github.com/jkroepke/helm-secrets",
+			helmPluginsDir: strings.Join([]string{"/helm/data/plugins", "/helm/nfs/plugins"}, string(filepath.ListSeparator)),
+			expectPath:     "/helm/data/plugins/helm-secrets",
+		},
+		{
+			source:         "https://github.com/jkroepke/helm-secrets",
+			helmPluginsDir: strings.Join([]string{"", "/helm/nfs/plugins"}, string(filepath.ListSeparator)),
+			expectPath:     "/helm/nfs/plugins/helm-secrets",
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {