diff --git a/src/emqx_plugins.erl b/src/emqx_plugins.erl
index 4088988c2..1c8849745 100644
--- a/src/emqx_plugins.erl
+++ b/src/emqx_plugins.erl
@@ -217,22 +217,50 @@ load_plugin_conf(AppName, PluginDir) ->
 ensure_file(File) ->
     case filelib:is_file(File) of
         false ->
-            DefaultPlugins = [ {emqx_management, true}
-                             , {emqx_dashboard, true}
-                             , {emqx_modules, true}
-                             , {emqx_recon, true}
-                             , {emqx_retainer, true}
-                             , {emqx_telemetry, true}
-                             , {emqx_rule_engine, true}
-                             , {emqx_bridge_mqtt, false}
-                             , {emqx_eviction_agent, true}
-                             , {emqx_node_rebalance, true}
-                             ],
+            DefaultPlugins = default_plugins(),
             write_loaded(DefaultPlugins);
         true ->
             ok
     end.
 
+-ifndef(EMQX_ENTERPRISE).
+%% default plugins see rebar.config.erl
+default_plugins() ->
+    [
+        {emqx_management, true},
+        {emqx_dashboard, true},
+        %% emqx_modules is not a plugin, but a normal application starting when boots.
+        {emqx_modules, false},
+        {emqx_retainer, true},
+        {emqx_recon, true},
+        {emqx_telemetry, true},
+        {emqx_rule_engine, true},
+        {emqx_bridge_mqtt, false},
+        {emqx_eviction_agent, true},
+        {emqx_node_rebalance, true}
+    ].
+
+-else.
+
+default_plugins() ->
+    [
+        {emqx_management, true},
+        {emqx_dashboard, true},
+        %% enterprise version of emqx_modules is a plugin
+        {emqx_modules, true},
+        %% retainer is managed by emqx_modules.
+        %% default is true in data/load_modules. **NOT HERE**
+        {emqx_retainer, false},
+        {emqx_recon, true},
+        {emqx_telemetry, true},
+        {emqx_rule_engine, true},
+        {emqx_bridge_mqtt, false},
+        {emqx_eviction_agent, true},
+        {emqx_node_rebalance, true}
+    ].
+
+-endif.
+
 with_loaded_file(File, SuccFun) ->
     case read_loaded(File) of
         {ok, Names0} ->