diff --git a/netbox/core/plugins.py b/netbox/core/plugins.py
index e6d09711f..8fed9b3b7 100644
--- a/netbox/core/plugins.py
+++ b/netbox/core/plugins.py
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ def get_local_plugins(plugins=None):
     local_plugins = {}
 
     # Gather all locally-installed plugins
-    for plugin_name in registry['plugins']['installed']:
+    for plugin_name in settings.PLUGINS:
         plugin = importlib.import_module(plugin_name)
         plugin_config: PluginConfig = plugin.config
         installed_version = plugin_config.version
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ def get_local_plugins(plugins=None):
             tag_line=plugin_config.description,
             description_short=plugin_config.description,
             is_local=True,
-            is_installed=True,
+            is_installed=plugin_name in registry['plugins']['installed'],
             installed_version=installed_version,
         )
 
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ def get_local_plugins(plugins=None):
     for k, v in local_plugins.items():
         if k in plugins:
             plugins[k].is_local = True
-            plugins[k].is_installed = True
+            plugins[k].is_installed = k in registry['plugins']['installed']
             plugins[k].installed_version = v.installed_version
         else:
             plugins[k] = v
diff --git a/netbox/netbox/middleware.py b/netbox/netbox/middleware.py
index b9424bd7c..4f9721430 100644
--- a/netbox/netbox/middleware.py
+++ b/netbox/netbox/middleware.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from contextlib import ExitStack
 
 import logging
 import uuid
+import warnings
 
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib import auth, messages
@@ -37,7 +38,10 @@ class CoreMiddleware:
         # Apply all registered request processors
         with ExitStack() as stack:
             for request_processor in registry['request_processors']:
-                stack.enter_context(request_processor(request))
+                try:
+                    stack.enter_context(request_processor(request))
+                except Exception as e:
+                    warnings.warn(f'Failed to initialize request processor {request_processor}: {e}')
             response = self.get_response(request)
 
         # Check if language cookie should be renewed
diff --git a/netbox/netbox/settings.py b/netbox/netbox/settings.py
index ad722e3a9..4e6e96d8a 100644
--- a/netbox/netbox/settings.py
+++ b/netbox/netbox/settings.py
@@ -791,7 +791,6 @@ if 'extras.events.process_event_queue' not in EVENTS_PIPELINE:
     EVENTS_PIPELINE.insert(0, 'extras.events.process_event_queue')
 
 # Register any configured plugins
-incompatible_plugins = []
 for plugin_name in PLUGINS:
     try:
         # Import the plugin module
@@ -813,6 +812,15 @@ for plugin_name in PLUGINS:
             f"__init__.py file and point to the PluginConfig subclass."
         )
 
+    # Validate version compatibility and user-provided configuration settings and assign defaults
+    if plugin_name not in PLUGINS_CONFIG:
+        PLUGINS_CONFIG[plugin_name] = {}
+    try:
+        plugin_config.validate(PLUGINS_CONFIG[plugin_name], RELEASE.version)
+    except IncompatiblePluginError as e:
+        warnings.warn(f'Unable to load plugin {plugin_name}: {e}')
+        continue
+
     # Register the plugin as installed successfully
     registry['plugins']['installed'].append(plugin_name)
 
@@ -866,8 +874,6 @@ for plugin_name in PLUGINS:
         else:
             raise ImproperlyConfigured(f"events_pipline in plugin: {plugin_name} must be a list or tuple")
 
-[PLUGINS.remove(x) for x in incompatible_plugins]
-
 
 # UNSUPPORTED FUNCTIONALITY: Import any local overrides.
 try: