diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index e2916703..18cdf59e 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+  - fixed bug in traversal of $smarty->plugins_dir-array. now the
+    first matching plugin is taken (messju)
   - moved {strip} back into the compiler (messju)
   - fixed config_load: handling of section-attribute and use of
     multiple config-files in one template (atu, messju)
diff --git a/libs/core/core.assemble_plugin_filepath.php b/libs/core/core.assemble_plugin_filepath.php
index 639c1c3e..65204cc7 100644
--- a/libs/core/core.assemble_plugin_filepath.php
+++ b/libs/core/core.assemble_plugin_filepath.php
@@ -28,11 +28,13 @@ function smarty_core_assemble_plugin_filepath($params, &$smarty)
             // relative path, see if it is in the SMARTY_DIR
             if (@is_readable(SMARTY_DIR . $_plugin_filepath)) {
                 $_return = SMARTY_DIR . $_plugin_filepath;
+                break;
             }
         }
         // try relative to cwd (or absolute)
         if (@is_readable($_plugin_filepath)) {
             $_return = $_plugin_filepath;
+            break;
         }
     }