diff --git a/src/cli/args/backend_arg.rs b/src/cli/args/backend_arg.rs
index 49a199b9e3..0483428635 100644
--- a/src/cli/args/backend_arg.rs
+++ b/src/cli/args/backend_arg.rs
@@ -167,6 +167,25 @@ impl BackendArg {
         }
     }
 
+    pub fn full_with_opts(&self) -> String {
+        let full = self.full();
+        if regex!(r"^(.+)\[(.+)\]$").is_match(&full) {
+            return full;
+        }
+        if let Some(opts) = &self.opts {
+            let opts_str = opts
+                .opts
+                .iter()
+                .map(|(k, v)| format!("{k}={v}"))
+                .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+                .join(",");
+            if !full.contains(['[', ']']) && !opts_str.is_empty() {
+                return format!("{full}[{opts_str}]");
+            }
+        }
+        full
+    }
+
     pub fn opts(&self) -> ToolVersionOptions {
         self.opts.clone().unwrap_or_else(|| {
             if let Some(c) = regex!(r"^(.+)\[(.+)\]$").captures(&self.full()) {
diff --git a/src/toolset/install_state.rs b/src/toolset/install_state.rs
index 6e4c315078..e5e673810c 100644
--- a/src/toolset/install_state.rs
+++ b/src/toolset/install_state.rs
@@ -233,7 +233,12 @@ fn read_backend_meta(short: &str) -> Option<Vec<String>> {
 }
 
 pub fn write_backend_meta(ba: &BackendArg) -> Result<()> {
-    let doc = format!("{}\n{}", ba.short, ba.full());
+    // do not write options for core plugins
+    let full = match ba.full().starts_with("core:") {
+        true => ba.full(),
+        false => ba.full_with_opts(),
+    };
+    let doc = format!("{}\n{}", ba.short, full);
     file::write(backend_meta_path(&ba.short), doc.trim())?;
     Ok(())
 }