diff --git a/lib/Pico.php b/lib/Pico.php
index f1ddfb9..89e799b 100644
--- a/lib/Pico.php
+++ b/lib/Pico.php
@@ -444,9 +444,13 @@ class Pico
     /**
      * Loads plugins from vendor/pico-plugin.php and Pico::$pluginsDir
      *
-     * See {@see Pico::loadLocalPlugins()} for details about plugins installed
-     * to {@see Pico::$pluginsDir}, and {@see Pico::loadComposerPlugins()} for
-     * details about plugins installed using `composer`.
+     * See {@see Pico::loadComposerPlugins()} for details about plugins loaded
+     * from `vendor/pico-plugin.php` (i.e. plugins that were installed using
+     * `composer`), and {@see Pico::loadLocalPlugins()} for details about
+     * plugins installed to {@see Pico::$pluginsDir}.
+     *
+     * Pico always loads plugins from `vendor/pico-plugin.php` first and
+     * ignores conflicting plugins in {@see Pico::$pluginsDir}.
      *
      * Please note that Pico will change the processing order when needed to
      * incorporate plugin dependencies. See {@see Pico::sortPlugins()} for
@@ -460,8 +464,55 @@ class Pico
      */
     protected function loadPlugins()
     {
-        $this->loadLocalPlugins();
         $this->loadComposerPlugins();
+        $this->loadLocalPlugins();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Loads plugins from vendor/pico-plugin.php
+     *
+     * This method loads all plugins installed using `composer` and Pico's
+     * `picocms/pico-installer` installer by reading the `pico-plugin.php` in
+     * composer's `vendor` dir.
+     *
+     * @see    Pico::loadPlugins()
+     * @see    Pico::loadLocalPlugins()
+     * @return void
+     */
+    protected function loadComposerPlugins()
+    {
+        $composerPlugins = array();
+        if (file_exists($this->getVendorDir() . 'vendor/pico-plugin.php')) {
+            // composer root package
+            $composerPlugins = require($this->getVendorDir() . 'vendor/pico-plugin.php') ?: array();
+        } elseif (file_exists($this->getVendorDir() . '../../../vendor/pico-plugin.php')) {
+            // composer dependency package
+            $composerPlugins = require($this->getVendorDir() . '../../../vendor/pico-plugin.php') ?: array();
+        }
+
+        foreach ($composerPlugins as $package => $classNames) {
+            foreach ($classNames as $className) {
+                $plugin = new $className($this);
+                $className = get_class($plugin);
+
+                if (isset($this->plugins[$className])) {
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                if (!($plugin instanceof PicoPluginInterface)) {
+                    throw new RuntimeException(
+                        "Unable to load plugin '" . $className . "' via 'vendor/pico-plugin.php': "
+                        . "Plugins installed by composer must implement 'PicoPluginInterface'"
+                    );
+                }
+
+                $this->plugins[$className] = $plugin;
+
+                if (defined($className . '::API_VERSION') && ($className::API_VERSION >= static::API_VERSION)) {
+                    $this->nativePlugins[$className] = $plugin;
+                }
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -471,7 +522,7 @@ class Pico
      * `<plugin name>.php` only. Plugin names are treated case insensitive.
      * Pico will throw a RuntimeException if it can't load a plugin.
      *
-     * Plugin files MAY be prefixed by a number (e.g. 00-PicoDeprecated.php)
+     * Plugin files MAY be prefixed by a number (e.g. `00-PicoDeprecated.php`)
      * to indicate their processing order. Plugins without a prefix will be
      * loaded last. If you want to use a prefix, you MUST NOT use the reserved
      * prefixes `00` to `09`. Prefixes are completely optional, however, you
@@ -489,35 +540,53 @@ class Pico
      */
     protected function loadLocalPlugins()
     {
+        $pluginsLowered = array_change_key_case($this->plugins, CASE_LOWER);
+
         $pluginFiles = array();
-        $files = scandir($this->getPluginsDir());
-        if ($files !== false) {
-            foreach ($files as $file) {
-                if ($file[0] === '.') {
+        $files = scandir($this->getPluginsDir()) ?: array();
+        foreach ($files as $file) {
+            if ($file[0] === '.') {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            if (is_dir($this->getPluginsDir() . $file)) {
+                $className = preg_replace('/^[0-9]+-/', '', $file);
+                $classNameLowered = strtolower($className);
+
+                if (isset($pluginsLowered[$classNameLowered])) {
                     continue;
                 }
 
-                if (is_dir($this->getPluginsDir() . $file)) {
-                    $className = preg_replace('/^[0-9]+-/', '', $file);
-
+                if (file_exists($this->getPluginsDir() . $file . '/' . $className . '.php')) {
+                    $pluginFiles[$className] = $file . '/' . $className . '.php';
+                } else {
                     $subdirFiles = $this->getFilesGlob($this->getPluginsDir() . $file . '/?*.php', self::SORT_NONE);
                     foreach ($subdirFiles as $subdirFile) {
                         $subdirFile = basename($subdirFile, '.php');
-                        if (strcasecmp($className, $subdirFile) === 0) {
+                        if ($classNameLowered === strtolower($subdirFile)) {
                             $pluginFiles[$className] = $file . '/' . $subdirFile . '.php';
+                            break;
                         }
                     }
+                }
 
-                    if (!isset($pluginFiles[$className])) {
-                        throw new RuntimeException(
-                            "Unable to load plugin '" . $className . "' from "
-                            . "'" . $file . "/" . $className . ".php': File not found"
-                        );
-                    }
-                } elseif (substr($file, -4) === '.php') {
-                    $className = preg_replace('/^[0-9]+-/', '', substr($file, 0, -4));
-                    $pluginFiles[$className] = $file;
+                if (!isset($pluginFiles[$className])) {
+                    throw new RuntimeException(
+                        "Unable to load plugin '" . $className . "' from "
+                        . "'" . $file . "/" . $className . ".php': File not found"
+                    );
+                }
+            } elseif (substr($file, -4) === '.php') {
+                $className = preg_replace('/^[0-9]+-/', '', substr($file, 0, -4));
+                $classNameLowered = strtolower($className);
+
+                if (isset($pluginsLowered[$classNameLowered])) {
+                    continue;
                 }
+
+                $pluginFiles[$className] = $file;
+            } else {
+                throw new RuntimeException("Unable to load plugin from '" . $file . "': Not a valid plugin file");
             }
         }
 
@@ -537,10 +606,6 @@ class Pico
                 $plugin = new $className($this);
                 $className = get_class($plugin);
 
-                if (isset($this->plugins[$className])) {
-                    continue;
-                }
-
                 $this->plugins[$className] = $plugin;
 
                 if ($plugin instanceof PicoPluginInterface) {
@@ -554,44 +619,6 @@ class Pico
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Loads plugins from vendor/pico-plugin.php
-     *
-     * This method loads all plugins installed using `composer` and Pico's
-     * `picocms/pico-composer` installer by reading the `pico-plugin.php` in
-     * composer's `vendor` dir. Using composer enables plugin developers to
-     * load multiple plugins and their dependencies using a single composer
-     * package.
-     *
-     * @see    Pico::loadPlugins()
-     * @see    Pico::loadLocalPlugins()
-     * @return void
-     */
-    protected function loadComposerPlugins()
-    {
-        $composerPlugins = array();
-        if (file_exists($this->getVendorDir() . 'vendor/pico-plugin.php')) {
-            // composer root package
-            $composerPlugins = require($this->getVendorDir() . 'vendor/pico-plugin.php') ?: array();
-        } elseif (file_exists($this->getVendorDir() . '../../../vendor/pico-plugin.php')) {
-            // composer dependency package
-            $composerPlugins = require($this->getVendorDir() . '../../../vendor/pico-plugin.php') ?: array();
-        }
-
-        foreach ($composerPlugins as $package => $classNames) {
-            foreach ($classNames as $className) {
-                $plugin = new $className($this);
-                $this->plugins[$className] = $plugin;
-
-                if ($plugin instanceof PicoPluginInterface) {
-                    if (defined($className . '::API_VERSION') && ($className::API_VERSION >= static::API_VERSION)) {
-                        $this->nativePlugins[$className] = $plugin;
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-        }
-    }
-
     /**
      * Manually loads a plugin
      *