diff --git a/dockerfiles/theia/Dockerfile b/dockerfiles/theia/Dockerfile
index 1f0981df9e..8738fde11a 100644
--- a/dockerfiles/theia/Dockerfile
+++ b/dockerfiles/theia/Dockerfile
@@ -15,7 +15,12 @@ WORKDIR /home/theia
 # have default Theia build in the workspace in case no plugins are requested
 ADD https://raw.githubusercontent.com/theia-ide/theia-apps/master/theia-full-docker/latest.package.json /home/theia/package.json
 ADD theia-default-package.json /home/default/theia/package.json
-RUN yarn && \
+ADD src/add-native-plugins.js /home/default
+RUN node /home/default/add-native-plugins.js \
+    che-theia-ssh-extension:https://github.com/eclipse/che-theia-ssh-plugin.git \
+    && rm /home/default/add-native-plugins.js
+RUN cd /home/theia && \
+    yarn && \
     yarn theia build && \
     rm -rf * && \
     cd /home/default/theia && \
diff --git a/dockerfiles/theia/src/add-native-plugins.js b/dockerfiles/theia/src/add-native-plugins.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..836c1d13d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dockerfiles/theia/src/add-native-plugins.js
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+"use strict";
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2018 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+ *
+ * Contributors:
+ *   Red Hat, Inc. - initial API and implementation
+ */
+const fs = require("fs");
+const cp = require("child_process");
+
+const defaultTheiaRoot = '/home/default/theia';
+const pluginsDir = '/home/default/theia-plugins';
+
+const pluginsUrls = process.argv;
+// remove nodejs binary path
+pluginsUrls.shift();
+// remove script name
+pluginsUrls.shift();
+
+if (pluginsUrls.length > 0) {
+    addPlugins(parsePlugins(pluginsUrls));
+}
+
+/** Converts plugin args format from name:git://github.com/user/plugin.git to map: name -> url */
+function parsePlugins(pluginsUrls) {
+    const plugins = {};
+    for (let plugin of pluginsUrls) {
+        const colonPos = plugin.indexOf(':');
+        if (colonPos === -1) {
+            console.error('Invalid plugin format: ', plugin);
+            process.exit(1);
+        }
+        const pluginName = plugin.substring(0, colonPos).trim();
+        const pluginUrl = plugin.substring(colonPos + 1).trim();
+        if (pluginUrl.indexOf('://') === -1) {
+            console.error('Invalid plugin repository: ', pluginUrl);
+            process.exit(2);
+        }
+        plugins[pluginName] = pluginUrl;
+    }
+    return plugins;
+}
+
+/** Adds git hosted plugins. */
+function addPlugins(plugins) {
+    for (let pluginName in plugins) {
+        const pluginRootPath = pluginsDir + '/' + pluginName;
+        cloneRepository(pluginRootPath, plugins[pluginName]);
+        buildPlugin(pluginRootPath);
+        plugins[pluginName] = getBinaryPath(pluginRootPath, pluginName);
+    }
+    addPluginsIntoDefaultPackageJson(plugins);
+}
+
+function cloneRepository(path, url) {
+    try {
+        console.log('Cloning repository: ', url);
+        cp.execSync(`git clone --depth=1 --quiet ${url} ${path}`);
+    } catch (error) {
+        console.error('Failed to clone repository: ', url);
+        process.exit(3);
+    }
+}
+
+function buildPlugin(path) {
+    try {
+        console.log('Building plugin: ', path);
+        cp.execSync(`cd ${path} && yarn`);
+    } catch (error) {
+        console.error('Failed to build plugin located in: ', path);
+        process.exit(4);
+    }
+}
+
+function getBinaryPath(pluginRoot, pluginName) {
+    const rootPackageJson = require(`${pluginRoot}/package.json`);
+    if ('theiaExtensions' in rootPackageJson) {
+        return pluginRoot;
+    }
+
+    const dirs = fs.readdirSync(pluginRoot).filter(item => !item.startsWith('.') && fs.lstatSync(pluginRoot + '/' + item).isDirectory());
+    for (let dirName of dirs) {
+        const pluginTargetDir = pluginRoot + '/' + dirName;
+        const packageJsonPath = pluginTargetDir + '/package.json';
+        if (fs.existsSync(packageJsonPath)) {
+            let packageJson = require(packageJsonPath);
+            if (packageJson['name'] === pluginName) {
+                return pluginRoot + '/' + dirName;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    console.error('Failed to find folder with binaries for plugin: ', pluginRoot);
+    process.exit(5);
+}
+
+function addPluginsIntoDefaultPackageJson(plugins) {
+    let theiaPackageJson = require(`${defaultTheiaRoot}/package.json`);
+    let dependencies = theiaPackageJson['dependencies'];
+    for (let plugin in plugins) {
+        dependencies[plugin] = plugins[plugin];
+    }
+    theiaPackageJson['dependencies'] = dependencies;
+    fs.writeFileSync(`${defaultTheiaRoot}/package.json`, JSON.stringify(theiaPackageJson), 'utf8');
+}