diff --git a/lib/generators/open_project/plugin/plugin_generator.rb b/lib/generators/open_project/plugin/plugin_generator.rb
index f821188e96c..7886c65c8f6 100644
--- a/lib/generators/open_project/plugin/plugin_generator.rb
+++ b/lib/generators/open_project/plugin/plugin_generator.rb
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ class OpenProject::PluginGenerator < Rails::Generators::Base
   def generate_plugin
     plugin_dir
     lib_dir
+    bin_dir
   end
 
   def full_name
@@ -70,4 +71,14 @@ class OpenProject::PluginGenerator < Rails::Generators::Base
       directory('lib', lib_path)
     end
   end
+
+  def bin_path
+    "#{plugin_path}/bin"
+  end
+
+  def bin_dir
+    @bin_dir ||= begin
+      directory('bin', bin_path)
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/lib/generators/open_project/plugin/templates/Gemfile b/lib/generators/open_project/plugin/templates/Gemfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fa75df15632
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/generators/open_project/plugin/templates/Gemfile
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+source 'https://rubygems.org'
+
+gemspec
diff --git a/lib/generators/open_project/plugin/templates/bin/rails.tt b/lib/generators/open_project/plugin/templates/bin/rails.tt
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..8fcd60c45ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/generators/open_project/plugin/templates/bin/rails.tt
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+# This command will automatically be run when you run "rails" with Rails gems
+# installed from the root of your application.
+
+ENGINE_ROOT = File.expand_path('../..', __FILE__)
+ENGINE_PATH = File.expand_path('../../lib/open_project/<%= plugin_name %>/engine', __FILE__)
+
+# Set up gems listed in the Gemfile.
+ENV['BUNDLE_GEMFILE'] ||= File.expand_path('../../Gemfile', __FILE__)
+require 'bundler/setup' if File.exist?(ENV['BUNDLE_GEMFILE'])
+
+##
+# This is not ideal but better than nothing.
+if ENV['OPENPROJECT_ROOT']
+  # /Users/mkahl/dev/openproject/release/lib
+  path = Pathname(ENV["OPENPROJECT_ROOT"]).join("lib")
+  $LOAD_PATH.unshift(path.to_s)
+else
+  puts
+  puts "Error: please define OPENPROJECT_ROOT pointing to your OpenProject core's root directory"
+  puts
+  Kernel.exit(1)
+end
+
+require 'rails/all'
+require 'rails/engine/commands'