diff --git a/validate/Makefile.am b/validate/Makefile.am
index 5e3d7cdb66..0c52124c51 100644
--- a/validate/Makefile.am
+++ b/validate/Makefile.am
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ SUBDIRS = 	\
 	common 	\
 	data	\
 	gst 	\
+	plugins	\
 	launcher \
 	tools 	\
 	pkgconfig 	\
diff --git a/validate/configure.ac b/validate/configure.ac
index a267d22e6d..ee5fcc599d 100644
--- a/validate/configure.ac
+++ b/validate/configure.ac
@@ -303,10 +303,10 @@ gst/Makefile
 gst/validate/Makefile
 gst/preload/Makefile
 gst/overrides/Makefile
-gst/plugins/Makefile
-gst/plugins/fault_injection/Makefile
-gst/plugins/gapplication/Makefile
-gst/plugins/gtk/Makefile
+plugins/Makefile
+plugins/fault_injection/Makefile
+plugins/gapplication/Makefile
+plugins/gtk/Makefile
 tests/Makefile
 tests/check/Makefile
 pkgconfig/Makefile
diff --git a/validate/gst/Makefile.am b/validate/gst/Makefile.am
index cfb90f3803..7e44971956 100644
--- a/validate/gst/Makefile.am
+++ b/validate/gst/Makefile.am
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-SUBDIRS = validate overrides plugins
+SUBDIRS = validate overrides
 
 if HAVE_LD_PRELOAD
 SUBDIRS += preload
diff --git a/validate/gst/plugins/Makefile.am b/validate/plugins/Makefile.am
similarity index 100%
rename from validate/gst/plugins/Makefile.am
rename to validate/plugins/Makefile.am
diff --git a/validate/gst/plugins/fault_injection/Makefile.am b/validate/plugins/fault_injection/Makefile.am
similarity index 100%
rename from validate/gst/plugins/fault_injection/Makefile.am
rename to validate/plugins/fault_injection/Makefile.am
diff --git a/validate/gst/plugins/fault_injection/socket_interposer.c b/validate/plugins/fault_injection/socket_interposer.c
similarity index 99%
rename from validate/gst/plugins/fault_injection/socket_interposer.c
rename to validate/plugins/fault_injection/socket_interposer.c
index 6289b0281d..a27a429d25 100644
--- a/validate/gst/plugins/fault_injection/socket_interposer.c
+++ b/validate/plugins/fault_injection/socket_interposer.c
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #include <gst/gst.h>
-#include "../../validate/gst-validate-scenario.h"
+#include "../../gst/validate/gst-validate-scenario.h"
 
 #if defined(__gnu_linux__) && !defined(__ANDROID__) && !defined (ANDROID)
 
diff --git a/validate/gst/plugins/gapplication/Makefile.am b/validate/plugins/gapplication/Makefile.am
similarity index 100%
rename from validate/gst/plugins/gapplication/Makefile.am
rename to validate/plugins/gapplication/Makefile.am
diff --git a/validate/gst/plugins/gapplication/gstvalidategapplication.c b/validate/plugins/gapplication/gstvalidategapplication.c
similarity index 93%
rename from validate/gst/plugins/gapplication/gstvalidategapplication.c
rename to validate/plugins/gapplication/gstvalidategapplication.c
index edaf57e42e..45ff1b8a48 100644
--- a/validate/gst/plugins/gapplication/gstvalidategapplication.c
+++ b/validate/plugins/gapplication/gstvalidategapplication.c
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@
 #include <gst/gst.h>
 #include <gio/gio.h>
 
-#include "../../validate/validate.h"
-#include "../../validate/gst-validate-scenario.h"
-#include "../../validate/gst-validate-utils.h"
+#include "../../gst/validate/validate.h"
+#include "../../gst/validate/gst-validate-scenario.h"
+#include "../../gst/validate/gst-validate-utils.h"
 
 
 static gboolean
diff --git a/validate/gst/plugins/gtk/Makefile.am b/validate/plugins/gtk/Makefile.am
similarity index 100%
rename from validate/gst/plugins/gtk/Makefile.am
rename to validate/plugins/gtk/Makefile.am
diff --git a/validate/gst/plugins/gtk/gstvalidategtk.c b/validate/plugins/gtk/gstvalidategtk.c
similarity index 98%
rename from validate/gst/plugins/gtk/gstvalidategtk.c
rename to validate/plugins/gtk/gstvalidategtk.c
index 0318a29b55..6adc112acf 100644
--- a/validate/gst/plugins/gtk/gstvalidategtk.c
+++ b/validate/plugins/gtk/gstvalidategtk.c
@@ -31,11 +31,11 @@
 #include <gtk/gtk.h>
 #include <gdk/gdk.h>
 
-#include "../../validate/gst-validate-report.h"
-#include "../../validate/gst-validate-reporter.h"
-#include "../../validate/validate.h"
-#include "../../validate/gst-validate-scenario.h"
-#include "../../validate/gst-validate-utils.h"
+#include "../../gst/validate/gst-validate-report.h"
+#include "../../gst/validate/gst-validate-reporter.h"
+#include "../../gst/validate/validate.h"
+#include "../../gst/validate/gst-validate-scenario.h"
+#include "../../gst/validate/gst-validate-utils.h"
 
 #define ACTION_GDKEVENTS_QUARK g_quark_from_static_string("ACTION_GDKEVENTS_QUARK")
 static GList *awaited_actions = NULL;   /* A list of GstValidateAction to be executed */