diff --git a/src/app/config.coffee b/src/app/config.coffee
index 3b94e2fa8..0897dcf53 100644
--- a/src/app/config.coffee
+++ b/src/app/config.coffee
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ class Config
     @loadUserConfig()
     @assignDefaults()
     @registerNewExtensions()
+    @requireExtensions()
     @requireUserInitScript()
 
   loadUserConfig: ->
@@ -47,6 +48,10 @@ class Config
         .concat(fs.list(userExtensionsDirPath)).map (path) -> fs.base(path)
     _.unique(availableExtensions)
 
+  requireExtensions: ->
+    for extensionName in config.core.extensions
+      requireExtension(extensionName) unless extensionName[0] == '!'
+
   update: (keyPathString, value) ->
     @setValueAtKeyPath(keyPathString.split('.'), value) if keyPathString
     @save()