diff --git a/.env.template b/.env.template
index a2ed9ee..325288b 100644
--- a/.env.template
+++ b/.env.template
@@ -4,10 +4,6 @@
 # Java memory settings - leave empty to auto-configure based on container limits
 ES_JAVA_HEAP=
 
-# Comma or space separated list of plugins to install automatically
-# analysis-icu is required for Nextcloud full-text search with language analyzers
-ES_PLUGINS_INSTALL=analysis-icu
-
 # Security settings - DO NOT CHANGE
 ES_JAVA_HOME=/app/data/jdk
 ES_PATH_CONF=/app/data/config
diff --git a/CloudronManifest.json b/CloudronManifest.json
index f68d7a7..29bf9a3 100644
--- a/CloudronManifest.json
+++ b/CloudronManifest.json
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "author": "Elastic and Cloudron Community",
   "description": "Elasticsearch is a distributed, open source search and analytics engine for all types of data. This package is designed for internal use only.",
   "tagline": "Distributed search and analytics engine",
-  "version": "1.0.12",
+  "version": "1.0.13",
   "healthCheckPath": "/_cluster/health?pretty",
   "httpPort": 9200,
   "manifestVersion": 2,
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 998127d..142dbb5 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -35,10 +35,10 @@ RUN mkdir -p /usr/share/elasticsearch && \
 
 # Create necessary directories
 RUN mkdir -p /app/data/{elasticsearch,logs,config,secrets,jdk/bin,run} && \
-    mkdir -p /app/data/elasticsearch/plugins && \
-    chown -R elasticsearch:elasticsearch /app/data && \
-    rm -rf /usr/share/elasticsearch/plugins && \
-    ln -s /app/data/elasticsearch/plugins /usr/share/elasticsearch/plugins
+    chown -R elasticsearch:elasticsearch /app/data
+
+# Preinstall required plugins
+RUN ES_JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-21-openjdk-amd64 /usr/share/elasticsearch/bin/elasticsearch-plugin install --batch analysis-icu
 
 # Copy configuration files
 COPY elasticsearch.yml /app/elasticsearch.yml
diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
index 02662dd..63cda78 100644
--- a/INSTALL.md
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -32,17 +32,11 @@ After installation:
 1. Check the app logs to ensure Elasticsearch has started correctly
 2. Note the generated password from the logs or from `/app/data/credentials.txt`
 3. Configure your other Cloudron apps to connect to Elasticsearch using the format: `http://elastic:<password>@localhost:9200`
-4. (Recommended) Ensure the required analysis plugins are installed before integrating apps like Nextcloud:
-   1. Open the Cloudron File Manager for the Elasticsearch app and edit `/app/data/.env`
-   2. Set `ES_PLUGINS_INSTALL="analysis-icu"` (add extra plugins separated by spaces or commas)
-   3. Restart the Elasticsearch app so it installs the requested plugins on startup
-   4. Verify installation from the web terminal:
-
-      ```bash
-      curl -X GET -u elastic:<password> "localhost:9200/_nodes/plugins?pretty"
-      ```
-
-      You should see `analysis-icu` listed before running any index commands.
+4. (Recommended) Verify the bundled `analysis-icu` plugin (required by Nextcloud’s full-text search):  
+   ```bash
+   curl -X GET -u elastic:<password> "localhost:9200/_nodes/plugins?pretty"
+   ```  
+   The output should list `analysis-icu` before you kick off `occ fulltextsearch:index`. If you need additional plugins, rebuild this package with the desired plugin baked into the image (runtime installation is blocked by Elasticsearch 9’s filesystem restrictions).
 
 ## Troubleshooting
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2554898..bfe8608 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -72,19 +72,13 @@ You can get the IP address from the Cloudron admin panel or by using the `cloudr
 
 ### Language Analysis Plugins
 
-Many integrations (for example, Nextcloud Full-Text Search with German documents) require the `analysis-icu` plugin so Elasticsearch understands language-specific analyzers. This package installs `analysis-icu` automatically on every start. To add additional plugins, edit `/app/data/.env` via the Cloudron File Manager and tweak the `ES_PLUGINS_INSTALL` variable:
-
-```
-ES_PLUGINS_INSTALL="analysis-icu ingest-attachment"
-```
-
-Plugins are installed sequentially and skipped if already present. After restarting the app you can verify the installed plugins from the Elasticsearch web terminal:
+Many integrations (for example, Nextcloud Full-Text Search with German documents) require the `analysis-icu` plugin so Elasticsearch understands language-specific analyzers. This package ships with `analysis-icu` preinstalled. You can verify it from the Elasticsearch web terminal:
 
 ```bash
 curl -X GET -u elastic:<password> "localhost:9200/_nodes/plugins?pretty"
 ```
 
-Look for `analysis-icu` (and any other requested plugins) in the output before running `occ fulltextsearch:index`.
+Look for `analysis-icu` in the output before running `occ fulltextsearch:index`. If you need additional plugins, rebuild this package with the desired plugin installed in the Docker image (Elasticsearch 9 no longer allows runtime plugin installation into read-only filesystems).
 
 ## Security Notes
 
diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
index 43f3603..f50bf61 100644
--- a/start.sh
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -144,7 +144,6 @@ configure_elasticsearch() {
     ensure_setting "discovery.type" "single-node"
     ensure_setting "path.data" "/app/data/elasticsearch"
     ensure_setting "path.logs" "/app/data/logs"
-    ensure_setting "path.plugins" "/app/data/elasticsearch/plugins"
     
     # CRITICAL FIX: Remove any index-level settings from elasticsearch.yml to prevent startup failure
     if [ -f $ES_PATH_CONF/elasticsearch.yml ]; then
@@ -407,39 +406,6 @@ ensure_setting() {
     fi
 }
 
-# Install optional Elasticsearch plugins (analysis-icu required for multi-language indexing)
-install_plugins() {
-    local plugin_list="${ES_PLUGINS_INSTALL:-analysis-icu}"
-    local plugin_dir="/app/data/elasticsearch/plugins"
-
-    if [ -z "$plugin_list" ]; then
-        echo "No Elasticsearch plugins requested for installation."
-        return 0
-    fi
-
-    # Normalize separators (commas/semicolons/newlines) to whitespace
-    plugin_list=$(echo "$plugin_list" | tr ',;' '  ')
-
-    for plugin in $plugin_list; do
-        plugin=$(echo "$plugin" | xargs)
-        [ -z "$plugin" ] && continue
-
-        if [ -d "$plugin_dir/$plugin" ]; then
-            echo "Plugin '$plugin' already installed. Skipping."
-            continue
-        fi
-
-        echo "Installing Elasticsearch plugin '$plugin'..."
-        if ! su -c "ES_PATH_CONF=$ES_PATH_CONF ES_JAVA_HOME=/app/data/jdk ES_TMPDIR=/tmp $ES_HOME/bin/elasticsearch-plugin install --batch $plugin" elasticsearch; then
-            echo "ERROR: Failed to install plugin '$plugin'."
-            return 1
-        fi
-    done
-
-    echo "✅ Requested Elasticsearch plugins installed."
-    return 0
-}
-
 # Configure JVM heap size
 configure_heap() {
     # Calculate optimal heap size (50% of available memory)
@@ -541,7 +507,6 @@ chmod 600 /app/data/secrets/elastic_password
 
 set_system_limits
 configure_heap
-install_plugins
 start_elasticsearch
 
 # Keep container running