diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 26a9da0d63..264854cb79 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -69,5 +69,6 @@ pkg-fmt = "tgz"
 
 [features]
 # See remarks in zellij_utils/Cargo.toml
+default = [ "zellij-utils/asset_map" ]
 disable_automatic_asset_installation = [ "zellij-utils/disable_automatic_asset_installation" ]
 unstable = [ "zellij-client/unstable", "zellij-utils/unstable" ]
diff --git a/zellij-utils/Cargo.toml b/zellij-utils/Cargo.toml
index 021d902053..6d0e345196 100644
--- a/zellij-utils/Cargo.toml
+++ b/zellij-utils/Cargo.toml
@@ -56,3 +56,4 @@ insta = { version = "1.6.0", features = ["backtrace"] }
 #   - builtin plugins MUST be available from whatever is configured as `PLUGIN_DIR`
 disable_automatic_asset_installation = []
 unstable = []
+asset_map = []
diff --git a/zellij-utils/src/consts.rs b/zellij-utils/src/consts.rs
index d8b60e3511..328be223be 100644
--- a/zellij-utils/src/consts.rs
+++ b/zellij-utils/src/consts.rs
@@ -35,10 +35,10 @@ pub const FEATURES: &[&str] = &[
     "disable_automatic_asset_installation",
 ];
 
-#[cfg(not(target_family = "wasm"))]
+#[cfg(all(not(target_family = "wasm"), feature = "asset_map"))]
 pub use not_wasm::*;
 
-#[cfg(not(target_family = "wasm"))]
+#[cfg(all(not(target_family = "wasm"), feature = "asset_map"))]
 mod not_wasm {
     use lazy_static::lazy_static;
     use std::collections::HashMap;
diff --git a/zellij-utils/src/input/plugins.rs b/zellij-utils/src/input/plugins.rs
index 1ab3e831fa..7503f43b0c 100644
--- a/zellij-utils/src/input/plugins.rs
+++ b/zellij-utils/src/input/plugins.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use url::Url;
 
 use super::layout::{RunPlugin, RunPluginLocation};
-#[cfg(not(target_family = "wasm"))]
+#[cfg(all(not(target_family = "wasm"), feature = "asset_map"))]
 use crate::consts::ASSET_MAP;
 pub use crate::data::PluginTag;
 use crate::errors::prelude::*;
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ impl PluginConfig {
         for path in paths {
             // Check if the plugin path matches an entry in the asset map. If so, load it directly
             // from memory, don't bother with the disk.
-            #[cfg(not(target_family = "wasm"))]
+            #[cfg(all(not(target_family = "wasm"), feature = "asset_map"))]
             if !cfg!(feature = "disable_automatic_asset_installation") && self.is_builtin() {
                 let asset_path = PathBuf::from("plugins").join(path);
                 if let Some(bytes) = ASSET_MAP.get(&asset_path) {
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ impl PluginConfig {
         }
 
         // Not reached if a plugin is found!
-        #[cfg(not(target_family = "wasm"))]
+        #[cfg(all(not(target_family = "wasm"), feature = "asset_map"))]
         if self.is_builtin() {
             // Layout requested a builtin plugin that wasn't found
             let plugin_path = self.path.with_extension("wasm");
diff --git a/zellij-utils/src/setup.rs b/zellij-utils/src/setup.rs
index ddbc59673b..5de536c71d 100644
--- a/zellij-utils/src/setup.rs
+++ b/zellij-utils/src/setup.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#[cfg(not(target_family = "wasm"))]
+#[cfg(all(not(target_family = "wasm"), feature = "asset_map"))]
 use crate::consts::ASSET_MAP;
 use crate::input::theme::Themes;
 use crate::{
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ pub fn dump_specified_layout(layout: &str) -> std::io::Result<()> {
     }
 }
 
-#[cfg(not(target_family = "wasm"))]
+#[cfg(all(not(target_family = "wasm"), feature = "asset_map"))]
 pub fn dump_builtin_plugins(path: &PathBuf) -> Result<()> {
     for (asset_path, bytes) in ASSET_MAP.iter() {
         let plugin_path = path.join(asset_path);
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ pub fn dump_builtin_plugins(path: &PathBuf) -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-#[cfg(target_family = "wasm")]
+#[cfg(any(target_family = "wasm", not(feature = "asset_map")))]
 pub fn dump_builtin_plugins(_path: &PathBuf) -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }