diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7047f901..710a166c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ $(EXES) tests lint:
 
 else
 
-$(WEAVER_EXE) $(WEAVEPROXY_EXE):
+$(WEAVER_EXE) $(WEAVEPROXY_EXE) $(PLUGIN_EXE):
 ifeq ($(COVERAGE),true)
 	go build -v $(BUILD_FLAGS) -o $@ ./$(@D)
 	$(eval COVERAGE_MODULES := $(shell (go list ./$(@D); go list -f '{{join .Deps "\n"}}' ./$(@D) | grep "^$(PACKAGE_BASE)/") | grep -v "^$(PACKAGE_BASE)/vendor/" | paste -s -d,))
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ $(WEAVEWAIT_NOMCAST_EXE):
 
 # These programs need a separate rule as they fail the netgo check in
 # the main build stanza due to not importing net package
-$(SIGPROXY_EXE) $(PLUGIN_EXE) $(TEST_TLS_EXE) $(WEAVEWAIT_NOOP_EXE):
+$(SIGPROXY_EXE) $(TEST_TLS_EXE) $(WEAVEWAIT_NOOP_EXE):
 	go build $(BUILD_FLAGS) -o $@ ./$(@D)
 
 tests:
diff --git a/prog/plugin/main_test.go b/prog/plugin/main_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1873f4a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/prog/plugin/main_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	weavetest "github.com/weaveworks/weave/testing"
+)
+
+func TestMain(t *testing.T) {
+	weavetest.TrimTestArgs()
+	main()
+}
diff --git a/test/830_cni_plugin_test.sh b/test/830_cni_plugin_test.sh
index 63b07778..4631d97b 100755
--- a/test/830_cni_plugin_test.sh
+++ b/test/830_cni_plugin_test.sh
@@ -4,12 +4,19 @@
 
 start_suite "Test CNI plugin"
 
+coverage_args() {
+    # no coverage reporting for now; but when the plugin binary has
+    # been built for coverage reporting we need to prevent it from
+    # complaining about the non-coverage args.
+    [ -n "$COVERAGE" ] && echo "--"
+}
+
 cni_connect() {
     pid=$(container_pid $1 $2)
     docker_on $1 run --rm --privileged --net=host --pid=host -i \
         -e CNI_VERSION=1 -e CNI_COMMAND=ADD -e CNI_CONTAINERID=c1 \
         -e CNI_NETNS=/proc/$pid/ns/net -e CNI_IFNAME=eth0 -e CNI_PATH=/opt/cni/bin \
-        weaveworks/plugin:latest --cni-net <<EOF
+        weaveworks/plugin:latest $(coverage_args) --cni-net <<EOF
 {
     "name": "weave",
     "type": "weave-net"
diff --git a/test/config.sh b/test/config.sh
index aefdd6b7..63f02ae3 100644
--- a/test/config.sh
+++ b/test/config.sh
@@ -127,12 +127,10 @@ stop_router_on() {
     # we don't invoke `weave stop-router` here because that removes
     # the weave container, which means we a) can't grab coverage
     # stats, and b) can't inspect the logs when tests fail.
-    docker_on $host stop weave 1>/dev/null 2>&1 || true
-    docker_on $host stop weaveproxy 1>/dev/null 2>&1 || true
-    if [ -n "$COVERAGE" ] ; then
-        collect_coverage $host weave
-        collect_coverage $host weaveproxy
-    fi
+    for C in weaveplugin weaveproxy weave ; do
+        docker_on $host stop $C 1>/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+        [ -n "$COVERAGE" ] && collect_coverage $host $C
+    done
 }
 
 exec_on() {
diff --git a/weave b/weave
index 98278ffe..b8aa87c2 100755
--- a/weave
+++ b/weave
@@ -1741,7 +1741,7 @@ launch_plugin_if_not_running() {
         --restart=always \
         -v /run/docker/plugins:/run/docker/plugins \
         -e WEAVE_HTTP_ADDR \
-        $WEAVEPLUGIN_DOCKER_ARGS $PLUGIN_IMAGE \
+        $WEAVEPLUGIN_DOCKER_ARGS $PLUGIN_IMAGE $COVERAGE_ARGS \
         "$@"
     wait_for_status $PLUGIN_CONTAINER_NAME http_call_unix $PLUGIN_CONTAINER_NAME status.sock
     util_op create-plugin-network weave weavemesh