diff --git a/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/common/CLICompiler.kt b/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/common/CLICompiler.kt
index d35865dedbb..1569a420f61 100644
--- a/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/common/CLICompiler.kt
+++ b/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/common/CLICompiler.kt
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ import org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.common.messages.CompilerMessageSeverity.ERROR
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.common.messages.CompilerMessageSeverity.INFO
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.common.messages.CompilerMessageSeverity.LOGGING
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.jvm.plugins.PluginCliParser
+import org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.jvm.plugins.processCompilerPluginsOptions
+import org.jetbrains.kotlin.compiler.plugin.CommandLineProcessor
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.compiler.plugin.ComponentRegistrar
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.config.CompilerConfiguration
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.config.Services
@@ -45,6 +47,7 @@ import java.io.PrintStream
 abstract class CLICompiler<A : CommonCompilerArguments> : CLITool<A>() {
     companion object {
         const val SCRIPT_PLUGIN_REGISTRAR_NAME = "org.jetbrains.kotlin.scripting.compiler.plugin.ScriptingCompilerConfigurationComponentRegistrar"
+        const val SCRIPT_PLUGIN_COMMANDLINE_PROCESSOR_NAME = "org.jetbrains.kotlin.scripting.compiler.plugin.ScriptingCommandLineProcessor"
     }
 
     abstract val defaultPerformanceManager: CommonCompilerPerformanceManager
@@ -174,9 +177,10 @@ abstract class CLICompiler<A : CommonCompilerArguments> : CLITool<A>() {
         }
 
         if (!arguments.disableDefaultScriptingPlugin) {
+            pluginOptions.addPlatformOptions(arguments)
             val explicitOrLoadedScriptingPlugin =
                 pluginClasspaths.any { File(it).name.startsWith(PathUtil.KOTLIN_SCRIPTING_COMPILER_PLUGIN_NAME) } ||
-                        tryLoadScriptingPluginFromCurrentClassLoader(configuration)
+                        tryLoadScriptingPluginFromCurrentClassLoader(configuration, pluginOptions)
             if (!explicitOrLoadedScriptingPlugin) {
                 val kotlinPaths = paths ?: PathUtil.kotlinPathsForCompiler
                 val libPath = kotlinPaths.libPath.takeIf { it.exists() && it.isDirectory } ?: File(".")
@@ -191,23 +195,31 @@ abstract class CLICompiler<A : CommonCompilerArguments> : CLITool<A>() {
                     )
                 }
             }
-            pluginOptions.addPlatformOptions(arguments)
         } else {
             pluginOptions.add("plugin:kotlin.scripting:disable=true")
         }
         return PluginCliParser.loadPluginsSafe(pluginClasspaths, pluginOptions, configuration)
     }
 
-    private fun tryLoadScriptingPluginFromCurrentClassLoader(configuration: CompilerConfiguration): Boolean = try {
-        val pluginRegistrarClass = PluginCliParser::class.java.classLoader.loadClass(SCRIPT_PLUGIN_REGISTRAR_NAME)
-        val pluginRegistrar = pluginRegistrarClass.newInstance() as? ComponentRegistrar
-        if (pluginRegistrar != null) {
-            configuration.add(ComponentRegistrar.PLUGIN_COMPONENT_REGISTRARS, pluginRegistrar)
-            true
-        } else false
-    } catch (_: Throwable) {
-        // TODO: add finer error processing and logging
-        false
-    }
+    private fun tryLoadScriptingPluginFromCurrentClassLoader(configuration: CompilerConfiguration, pluginOptions: List<String>): Boolean =
+        try {
+            val pluginRegistrarClass = PluginCliParser::class.java.classLoader.loadClass(SCRIPT_PLUGIN_REGISTRAR_NAME)
+            val pluginRegistrar = pluginRegistrarClass.getDeclaredConstructor().newInstance() as? ComponentRegistrar
+            if (pluginRegistrar != null) {
+                val cmdlineProcessorClass =
+                    if (pluginOptions.isEmpty()) null
+                    else PluginCliParser::class.java.classLoader.loadClass(SCRIPT_PLUGIN_COMMANDLINE_PROCESSOR_NAME)!!
+                val cmdlineProcessor = cmdlineProcessorClass?.getDeclaredConstructor()?.newInstance() as? CommandLineProcessor
+                configuration.add(ComponentRegistrar.PLUGIN_COMPONENT_REGISTRARS, pluginRegistrar)
+                if (cmdlineProcessor != null) {
+                    processCompilerPluginsOptions(configuration, pluginOptions, listOf(cmdlineProcessor))
+                }
+                true
+            } else false
+        } catch (e: Throwable) {
+            val messageCollector = configuration.getNotNull(MESSAGE_COLLECTOR_KEY)
+            messageCollector.report(LOGGING, "Exception on loading scripting plugin: $e")
+            false
+        }
 }
 
diff --git a/compiler/testData/integration/ant/js/verbose/build.log.expected b/compiler/testData/integration/ant/js/verbose/build.log.expected
index 8d2194b6fe8..3547c07936c 100644
--- a/compiler/testData/integration/ant/js/verbose/build.log.expected
+++ b/compiler/testData/integration/ant/js/verbose/build.log.expected
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Buildfile: [TestData]/build.xml
 build:
 [kotlin2js] Compiling [[TestData]/root1] => [[Temp]/out.js]
 [kotlin2js] logging: using Kotlin home directory [KotlinProjectHome]/dist/kotlinc
+[kotlin2js] logging: exception on loading scripting plugin: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.jetbrains.kotlin.scripting.compiler.plugin.ScriptingCompilerConfigurationComponentRegistrar
 [kotlin2js] logging: configure scripting: Added template org.jetbrains.kotlin.mainKts.MainKtsScript from [[CompilerLib]/kotlin-main-kts.jar, [CompilerLib]/kotlin-reflect.jar, [CompilerLib]/kotlin-script-runtime.jar, [CompilerLib]/kotlin-stdlib.jar]
 [kotlin2js] logging: compiling source files: [TestData]/root1/foo.kt
 
diff --git a/compiler/testData/integration/ant/jvm/verbose/build.log.expected b/compiler/testData/integration/ant/jvm/verbose/build.log.expected
index 66a43fb0592..01b50dabf9d 100644
--- a/compiler/testData/integration/ant/jvm/verbose/build.log.expected
+++ b/compiler/testData/integration/ant/jvm/verbose/build.log.expected
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Buildfile: [TestData]/build.xml
 build:
   [kotlinc] Compiling [[TestData]/hello.kt] => [[Temp]/hello.jar]
   [kotlinc] logging: using Kotlin home directory [KotlinProjectHome]/dist/kotlinc
+  [kotlinc] logging: exception on loading scripting plugin: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.jetbrains.kotlin.scripting.compiler.plugin.ScriptingCompilerConfigurationComponentRegistrar
   [kotlinc] logging: using JVM IR backend
   [kotlinc] logging: configuring the compilation environment
   [kotlinc] logging: configure scripting: Added template org.jetbrains.kotlin.mainKts.MainKtsScript from [[CompilerLib]/kotlin-main-kts.jar, [CompilerLib]/kotlin-reflect.jar, [CompilerLib]/kotlin-script-runtime.jar, [CompilerLib]/kotlin-stdlib.jar]
diff --git a/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler-impl/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/configuration/ScriptingConfigurationKeys.kt b/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler-impl/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/configuration/ScriptingConfigurationKeys.kt
index ce3b9c3cc94..dda19dcaf44 100644
--- a/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler-impl/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/configuration/ScriptingConfigurationKeys.kt
+++ b/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler-impl/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/configuration/ScriptingConfigurationKeys.kt
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ object ScriptingConfigurationKeys {
     val DISABLE_SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_FROM_CLASSPATH_OPTION: CompilerConfigurationKey<Boolean> =
         CompilerConfigurationKey.create("Do not extract script definitions from the compilation classpath")
 
+    val DISABLE_SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_AUTOLOADING_OPTION: CompilerConfigurationKey<Boolean> =
+        CompilerConfigurationKey.create("Do not automatically load compiler-supplied script definitions, like main-kts")
+
     val LEGACY_SCRIPT_RESOLVER_ENVIRONMENT_OPTION: CompilerConfigurationKey<MutableMap<String, Any?>> =
         CompilerConfigurationKey.create("Script resolver environment")
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/compiler/plugin/ScriptingCommandLineProcessor.kt b/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/compiler/plugin/ScriptingCommandLineProcessor.kt
index 1c46da6fe38..d21f33fa51f 100644
--- a/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/compiler/plugin/ScriptingCommandLineProcessor.kt
+++ b/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/compiler/plugin/ScriptingCommandLineProcessor.kt
@@ -15,23 +15,6 @@ import org.jetbrains.kotlin.config.JVMConfigurationKeys
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.scripting.configuration.ScriptingConfigurationKeys
 import java.io.File
 
-object ScriptingConfigurationKeys {
-    val DISABLE_SCRIPTING_PLUGIN_OPTION: CompilerConfigurationKey<Boolean> =
-        CompilerConfigurationKey.create("Disable scripting plugin")
-
-    val SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS: CompilerConfigurationKey<List<String>> =
-        CompilerConfigurationKey.create("Script definition classes")
-
-    val SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_CLASSPATH: CompilerConfigurationKey<List<File>> =
-        CompilerConfigurationKey.create("Additional classpath for the script definitions")
-
-    val DISABLE_SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_FROM_CLASSPATH_OPTION: CompilerConfigurationKey<Boolean> =
-        CompilerConfigurationKey.create("Do not extract script definitions from the compilation classpath")
-
-    val LEGACY_SCRIPT_RESOLVER_ENVIRONMENT_OPTION: CompilerConfigurationKey<MutableMap<String, Any?>> =
-        CompilerConfigurationKey.create("Script resolver environment")
-}
-
 class ScriptingCommandLineProcessor : CommandLineProcessor {
     companion object {
         val DISABLE_SCRIPTING_PLUGIN_OPTION = CliOption(
@@ -54,6 +37,10 @@ class ScriptingCommandLineProcessor : CommandLineProcessor {
             "disable-script-definitions-from-classpath", "true/false", "Do not extract script definitions from the compilation classpath",
             required = false, allowMultipleOccurrences = false
         )
+        val DISABLE_SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_AUTOLOADING_OPTION = CliOption(
+            "disable-script-definitions-autoloading", "true/false", "Do not automatically load compiler-supplied script definitions, like main-kts",
+            required = false, allowMultipleOccurrences = false
+        )
         val LEGACY_SCRIPT_TEMPLATES_OPTION = CliOption(
             "script-templates", "<fully qualified class name[,]>", "Script definition template classes",
             required = false, allowMultipleOccurrences = true
@@ -73,6 +60,7 @@ class ScriptingCommandLineProcessor : CommandLineProcessor {
             SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_CLASSPATH_OPTION,
             DISABLE_STANDARD_SCRIPT_DEFINITION_OPTION,
             DISABLE_SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_FROM_CLSSPATH_OPTION,
+            DISABLE_SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_AUTOLOADING_OPTION,
             LEGACY_SCRIPT_TEMPLATES_OPTION,
             LEGACY_SCRIPT_RESOLVER_ENVIRONMENT_OPTION
         )
@@ -107,6 +95,12 @@ class ScriptingCommandLineProcessor : CommandLineProcessor {
                 value.takeUnless { it.isBlank() }?.toBoolean() ?: true
             )
         }
+        DISABLE_SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_AUTOLOADING_OPTION -> {
+            configuration.put(
+                ScriptingConfigurationKeys.DISABLE_SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_AUTOLOADING_OPTION,
+                value.takeUnless { it.isBlank() }?.toBoolean() ?: true
+            )
+        }
         LEGACY_SCRIPT_RESOLVER_ENVIRONMENT_OPTION -> {
             val currentEnv = configuration.getMap(ScriptingConfigurationKeys.LEGACY_SCRIPT_RESOLVER_ENVIRONMENT_OPTION).toMutableMap()
             // parses key/value pairs in the form <key>=<value>, where
diff --git a/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/compiler/plugin/ScriptingCompilerConfigurationExtension.kt b/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/compiler/plugin/ScriptingCompilerConfigurationExtension.kt
index 328db81c517..8729826f22f 100644
--- a/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/compiler/plugin/ScriptingCompilerConfigurationExtension.kt
+++ b/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/compiler/plugin/ScriptingCompilerConfigurationExtension.kt
@@ -67,16 +67,21 @@ class ScriptingCompilerConfigurationExtension(
                 )
             }
 
-            configuration.addAll(
-                ScriptingConfigurationKeys.SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_SOURCES,
-                listOf(
+            val definitionsFromClasspath =
+                if (configuration.getBoolean(ScriptingConfigurationKeys.DISABLE_SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_FROM_CLASSPATH_OPTION)) null
+                else
                     ScriptDefinitionsFromClasspathDiscoverySource(
                         configuration.jvmClasspathRoots,
                         hostConfiguration,
                         messageCollector.reporter
-                    ),
-                    AutoloadedScriptDefinitions(hostConfiguration, this::class.java.classLoader, messageCollector.reporter)
-                )
+                    )
+            val autoloadedScriptDefinitions =
+                if (configuration.getBoolean(ScriptingConfigurationKeys.DISABLE_SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_AUTOLOADING_OPTION)) null
+                else AutoloadedScriptDefinitions(hostConfiguration, this::class.java.classLoader, messageCollector.reporter)
+
+            configuration.addAll(
+                ScriptingConfigurationKeys.SCRIPT_DEFINITIONS_SOURCES,
+                listOfNotNull(definitionsFromClasspath, autoloadedScriptDefinitions)
             )
 
             val scriptDefinitionProvider = ScriptDefinitionProvider.getInstance(project) as? CliScriptDefinitionProvider