diff --git a/serde_macros/Cargo.toml b/serde_macros/Cargo.toml
index 92ee340b..a0333cb3 100644
--- a/serde_macros/Cargo.toml
+++ b/serde_macros/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ name = "serde_macros"
 plugin = true
 
 [dependencies]
-clippy = "^0.0.37"
+clippy = { version = "^0.0.37", optional = true }
 serde_codegen = { version = "^0.6.10", path = "../serde_codegen", default-features = false, features = ["nightly"] }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
diff --git a/serde_macros/benches/bench.rs b/serde_macros/benches/bench.rs
index 7b545011..3f607229 100644
--- a/serde_macros/benches/bench.rs
+++ b/serde_macros/benches/bench.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #![feature(custom_attribute, custom_derive, plugin, test)]
-#![plugin(clippy)]
+#![cfg_attr(feature = "clippy", plugin(clippy))]
 #![plugin(serde_macros)]
 
 extern crate num;
diff --git a/serde_macros/src/lib.rs b/serde_macros/src/lib.rs
index edd2addc..077fdccf 100644
--- a/serde_macros/src/lib.rs
+++ b/serde_macros/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-#![feature(plugin, plugin_registrar, rustc_private)]
-#![plugin(clippy)]
+#![feature(plugin_registrar, rustc_private)]
+#![cfg_attr(feature = "clippy", feature(plugin))]
+#![cfg_attr(feature = "clippy", plugin(clippy))]
 
 extern crate serde_codegen;
 extern crate rustc_plugin;