diff --git a/lib/classes/plugin_manager.php b/lib/classes/plugin_manager.php
index 9ad0ca43357..05b72efd902 100644
--- a/lib/classes/plugin_manager.php
+++ b/lib/classes/plugin_manager.php
@@ -356,6 +356,13 @@ class core_plugin_manager {
 
         $types = core_component::get_plugin_types();
 
+        if (!isset($types[$type])) {
+            // Orphaned subplugins!
+            $plugintypeclass = self::resolve_plugininfo_class($type);
+            $this->pluginsinfo[$type] = $plugintypeclass::get_plugins($type, null, $plugintypeclass);
+            return $this->pluginsinfo[$type];
+        }
+
         /** @var \core\plugininfo\base $plugintypeclass */
         $plugintypeclass = self::resolve_plugininfo_class($type);
         $plugins = $plugintypeclass::get_plugins($type, $types[$type], $plugintypeclass);
@@ -386,6 +393,14 @@ class core_plugin_manager {
         foreach ($plugintypes as $plugintype => $plugintyperootdir) {
             $this->pluginsinfo[$plugintype] = null;
         }
+
+        // Add orphaned subplugin types.
+        $this->load_installed_plugins();
+        foreach ($this->installedplugins as $plugintype => $unused) {
+            if (!isset($plugintypes[$plugintype])) {
+                $this->pluginsinfo[$plugintype] = null;
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -395,6 +410,11 @@ class core_plugin_manager {
      * @return string name of pluginfo class for give plugin type
      */
     public static function resolve_plugininfo_class($type) {
+        $plugintypes = core_component::get_plugin_types();
+        if (!isset($plugintypes[$type])) {
+            return '\core\plugininfo\orphaned';
+        }
+
         $parent = core_component::get_subtype_parent($type);
 
         if ($parent) {
diff --git a/lib/classes/plugininfo/orphaned.php b/lib/classes/plugininfo/orphaned.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ec78d3931e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/classes/plugininfo/orphaned.php
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+<?php
+// This file is part of Moodle - http://moodle.org/
+//
+// Moodle is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// Moodle is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Moodle.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+/**
+ * Defines class used for orphaned subplugins.
+ *
+ * @package    core
+ * @copyright  2013 Petr Skoda {@link http://skodak.org}
+ * @license    http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+namespace core\plugininfo;
+
+defined('MOODLE_INTERNAL') || die();
+
+
+/**
+ * Orphaned subplugins class.
+ */
+class orphaned extends base {
+    public function is_uninstall_allowed() {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * We do not know if orphaned subplugins are enabled.
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    public function is_enabled() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * No lang strings are present.
+     */
+    public function init_display_name() {
+        $this->displayname = $this->component;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Oprhaned plugins can not be enabled.
+     * @return array|null of enabled plugins $pluginname=>$pluginname, null means unknown
+     */
+    public static function get_enabled_plugins() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Gathers and returns the information about all plugins of the given type,
+     * either on disk or previously installed.
+     *
+     * @param string $type the name of the plugintype, eg. mod, auth or workshopform
+     * @param string $typerootdir full path to the location of the plugin dir
+     * @param string $typeclass the name of the actually called class
+     * @return array of plugintype classes, indexed by the plugin name
+     */
+    public static function get_plugins($type, $typerootdir, $typeclass) {
+        $return = array();
+        $manager = \core_plugin_manager::instance();
+        $plugins = $manager->get_installed_plugins($type);
+
+        foreach ($plugins as $name => $version) {
+            $plugin              = new $typeclass();
+            $plugin->type        = $type;
+            $plugin->typerootdir = $typerootdir;
+            $plugin->name        = $name;
+            $plugin->rootdir     = null;
+            $plugin->displayname = $name;
+            $plugin->versiondb   = $version;
+            $plugin->init_is_standard();
+
+            $return[$name] = $plugin;
+        }
+
+        return $return;
+    }
+}