diff --git a/src/corelib/plugin/qfactoryloader.cpp b/src/corelib/plugin/qfactoryloader.cpp
index 8efa89d..dfdc346 100644
--- a/src/corelib/plugin/qfactoryloader.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/plugin/qfactoryloader.cpp
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ QFactoryLoader::QFactoryLoader(const char *iid,
     d->iid = iid;
     d->cs = cs;

+#ifdef QT_SHARED
     QSettings settings(QSettings::UserScope, QLatin1String("Trolltech"));

     for (int i = 0; i < paths.count(); ++i) {
@@ -130,6 +131,14 @@ QFactoryLoader::QFactoryLoader(const char *iid,
             }
         }
     }
+#else
+    Q_UNUSED(paths);
+    Q_UNUSED(suffix);
+    if (qt_debug_component()) {
+        qDebug() << "QFactoryLoader::QFactoryLoader() ignoring" << d->iid
+                 << "since plugins are disabled in static builds";
+    }
+#endif
 }

 QFactoryLoader::~QFactoryLoader()