diff --git a/docs/sphinx/reference-libobs-util-platform.rst b/docs/sphinx/reference-libobs-util-platform.rst
index 6a33235cb..5b857fdb7 100644
--- a/docs/sphinx/reference-libobs-util-platform.rst
+++ b/docs/sphinx/reference-libobs-util-platform.rst
@@ -154,6 +154,14 @@ These functions are roughly equivalent to dlopen/dlsym/dlclose.
 
 ---------------------
 
+.. function:: bool os_is_obs_plugin(const char *path)
+
+   Returns true if the path is a dynamic library that looks like an OBS plugin.
+
+   Currently only needed on Windows for performance reasons.
+
+---------------------
+
 
 CPU Usage Functions
 -------------------
diff --git a/libobs/obs-module.c b/libobs/obs-module.c
index f5f984121..e64224ae0 100644
--- a/libobs/obs-module.c
+++ b/libobs/obs-module.c
@@ -273,6 +273,10 @@ static void load_all_callback(void *param, const struct obs_module_info *info)
 {
 	obs_module_t *module;
 
+	if (!os_is_obs_plugin(info->bin_path))
+		blog(LOG_WARNING, "Skipping module '%s', not an OBS plugin",
+		     info->bin_path);
+
 	int code = obs_open_module(&module, info->bin_path, info->data_path);
 	if (code != MODULE_SUCCESS) {
 		blog(LOG_DEBUG, "Failed to load module file '%s': %d",
diff --git a/libobs/util/platform-nix.c b/libobs/util/platform-nix.c
index 30acb5859..a87808bdd 100644
--- a/libobs/util/platform-nix.c
+++ b/libobs/util/platform-nix.c
@@ -94,6 +94,12 @@ void os_dlclose(void *module)
 		dlclose(module);
 }
 
+bool os_is_obs_plugin(const char *path)
+{
+	/* not necessary on this platform */
+	return true;
+}
+
 #if !defined(__APPLE__)
 
 struct os_cpu_usage_info {
diff --git a/libobs/util/platform-windows.c b/libobs/util/platform-windows.c
index 21a0b6508..3cbf0aa46 100644
--- a/libobs/util/platform-windows.c
+++ b/libobs/util/platform-windows.c
@@ -134,6 +134,143 @@ void os_dlclose(void *module)
 	FreeLibrary(module);
 }
 
+bool os_is_obs_plugin(const char *path)
+{
+	struct dstr dll_name;
+	wchar_t *wpath;
+
+	HANDLE hFile = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
+	HANDLE hFileMapping = NULL;
+	VOID *base = NULL;
+
+	PIMAGE_DOS_HEADER dos_header;
+	PIMAGE_NT_HEADERS nt_headers;
+	PIMAGE_SECTION_HEADER section, last_section;
+
+	bool ret = false;
+
+	if (!path)
+		return false;
+
+	dstr_init_copy(&dll_name, path);
+	dstr_replace(&dll_name, "\\", "/");
+	if (!dstr_find(&dll_name, ".dll"))
+		dstr_cat(&dll_name, ".dll");
+
+	os_utf8_to_wcs_ptr(dll_name.array, 0, &wpath);
+
+	hFile = CreateFileW(wpath, GENERIC_READ, FILE_SHARE_READ, NULL,
+			    OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, 0);
+
+	bfree(wpath);
+
+	if (hFile == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
+		goto cleanup;
+
+	hFileMapping =
+		CreateFileMapping(hFile, NULL, PAGE_READONLY, 0, 0, NULL);
+	if (hFileMapping == NULL)
+		goto cleanup;
+
+	base = MapViewOfFile(hFileMapping, FILE_MAP_READ, 0, 0, 0);
+	if (!base)
+		goto cleanup;
+
+	/* all mapped file i/o must be prepared to handle exceptions */
+	__try {
+
+		dos_header = (PIMAGE_DOS_HEADER)base;
+
+		if (dos_header->e_magic != IMAGE_DOS_SIGNATURE)
+			goto cleanup;
+
+		nt_headers = (PIMAGE_NT_HEADERS)((byte *)dos_header +
+						 dos_header->e_lfanew);
+
+		if (nt_headers->Signature != IMAGE_NT_SIGNATURE)
+			goto cleanup;
+
+		PIMAGE_DATA_DIRECTORY data_dir;
+		data_dir =
+			&nt_headers->OptionalHeader
+				 .DataDirectory[IMAGE_DIRECTORY_ENTRY_EXPORT];
+
+		if (data_dir->Size == 0)
+			goto cleanup;
+
+		section = IMAGE_FIRST_SECTION(nt_headers);
+		last_section = section;
+
+		/* find the section that contains the export directory */
+		int i;
+		for (i = 0; i < nt_headers->FileHeader.NumberOfSections; i++) {
+			if (section->VirtualAddress <=
+			    data_dir->VirtualAddress) {
+				last_section = section;
+				section++;
+				continue;
+			} else {
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+
+		/* double check in case we exited early */
+		if (last_section->VirtualAddress > data_dir->VirtualAddress ||
+		    section->VirtualAddress <= data_dir->VirtualAddress)
+			goto cleanup;
+
+		section = last_section;
+
+		/* get a pointer to the export directory */
+		PIMAGE_EXPORT_DIRECTORY export;
+		export = (PIMAGE_EXPORT_DIRECTORY)(
+			(byte *)base + data_dir->VirtualAddress -
+			section->VirtualAddress + section->PointerToRawData);
+
+		if (export->NumberOfNames == 0)
+			goto cleanup;
+
+		/* get a pointer to the export directory names */
+		DWORD *names_ptr;
+		names_ptr = (DWORD *)((byte *)base + export->AddressOfNames -
+				      section->VirtualAddress +
+				      section->PointerToRawData);
+
+		/* iterate through each name and see if its an obs plugin */
+		CHAR *name;
+		size_t j;
+		for (j = 0; j < export->NumberOfNames; j++) {
+
+			name = (CHAR *)base + names_ptr[j] -
+			       section->VirtualAddress +
+			       section->PointerToRawData;
+
+			if (!strcmp(name, "obs_module_load")) {
+				ret = true;
+				goto cleanup;
+			}
+		}
+
+	} __except (EXCEPTION_EXECUTE_HANDLER) {
+		/* we failed somehow, for compatibility let's assume it
+		 * was a valid plugin and let the loader deal with it */
+		ret = true;
+		goto cleanup;
+	}
+
+cleanup:
+	if (base)
+		UnmapViewOfFile(base);
+
+	if (hFileMapping != NULL)
+		CloseHandle(hFileMapping);
+
+	if (hFile != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
+		CloseHandle(hFile);
+
+	return ret;
+}
+
 union time_data {
 	FILETIME ft;
 	unsigned long long val;
diff --git a/libobs/util/platform.h b/libobs/util/platform.h
index 45e0315aa..5b317c1a8 100644
--- a/libobs/util/platform.h
+++ b/libobs/util/platform.h
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ EXPORT int os_dtostr(double value, char *dst, size_t size);
 EXPORT void *os_dlopen(const char *path);
 EXPORT void *os_dlsym(void *module, const char *func);
 EXPORT void os_dlclose(void *module);
+EXPORT bool os_is_obs_plugin(const char *path);
 
 struct os_cpu_usage_info;
 typedef struct os_cpu_usage_info os_cpu_usage_info_t;