diff --git a/netbox/core/exceptions.py b/netbox/core/exceptions.py
index 8412b0378df..5790704c21c 100644
--- a/netbox/core/exceptions.py
+++ b/netbox/core/exceptions.py
@@ -1,2 +1,9 @@
+from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
+
+
 class SyncError(Exception):
     pass
+
+
+class IncompatiblePluginError(ImproperlyConfigured):
+    pass
diff --git a/netbox/netbox/plugins/__init__.py b/netbox/netbox/plugins/__init__.py
index 69881a25146..c322018b3a5 100644
--- a/netbox/netbox/plugins/__init__.py
+++ b/netbox/netbox/plugins/__init__.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 from django.utils.module_loading import import_string
 from packaging import version
 
+from core.exceptions import IncompatiblePluginError
 from netbox.registry import registry
 from netbox.search import register_search
 from netbox.utils import register_data_backend
@@ -138,14 +139,14 @@ def validate(cls, user_config, netbox_version):
         if cls.min_version is not None:
             min_version = version.parse(cls.min_version)
             if current_version < min_version:
-                raise ImproperlyConfigured(
+                raise IncompatiblePluginError(
                     f"Plugin {cls.__module__} requires NetBox minimum version {cls.min_version} (current: "
                     f"{netbox_version})."
                 )
         if cls.max_version is not None:
             max_version = version.parse(cls.max_version)
             if current_version > max_version:
-                raise ImproperlyConfigured(
+                raise IncompatiblePluginError(
                     f"Plugin {cls.__module__} requires NetBox maximum version {cls.max_version} (current: "
                     f"{netbox_version})."
                 )
diff --git a/netbox/netbox/settings.py b/netbox/netbox/settings.py
index 84b86ba13ad..910fa056c54 100644
--- a/netbox/netbox/settings.py
+++ b/netbox/netbox/settings.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 from django.core.validators import URLValidator
 from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
 
+from core.exceptions import IncompatiblePluginError
 from netbox.config import PARAMS as CONFIG_PARAMS
 from netbox.constants import RQ_QUEUE_DEFAULT, RQ_QUEUE_HIGH, RQ_QUEUE_LOW
 from netbox.plugins import PluginConfig
@@ -789,6 +790,7 @@ def _setting(name, default=None):
     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
@@ -810,6 +812,16 @@ def _setting(name, default=None):
             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:
+        print(f'Unable to load plugin {plugin_name}: {e}')
+        incompatible_plugins.append(plugin_name)
+        continue
+
     plugin_module = "{}.{}".format(plugin_config.__module__, plugin_config.__name__)  # type: ignore
 
     # Gather additional apps to load alongside this plugin
@@ -839,11 +851,6 @@ def _setting(name, default=None):
     sorted_apps = reversed(list(dict.fromkeys(reversed(INSTALLED_APPS))))
     INSTALLED_APPS = list(sorted_apps)
 
-    # Validate user-provided configuration settings and assign defaults
-    if plugin_name not in PLUGINS_CONFIG:
-        PLUGINS_CONFIG[plugin_name] = {}
-    plugin_config.validate(PLUGINS_CONFIG[plugin_name], RELEASE.version)
-
     # Add middleware
     plugin_middleware = plugin_config.middleware
     if plugin_middleware and type(plugin_middleware) in (list, tuple):
@@ -865,6 +872,9 @@ def _setting(name, default=None):
         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:
     from .local_settings import *