diff --git a/beetsplug/__init__.py b/beetsplug/__init__.py
deleted file mode 100644
index ad573cdb39..0000000000
--- a/beetsplug/__init__.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-# This file is part of beets.
-# Copyright 2016, Adrian Sampson.
-#
-# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
-# a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
-# "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
-# without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
-# distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
-# permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
-# the following conditions:
-#
-# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
-# included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
-
-"""A namespace package for beets plugins."""
-
-# Make this a namespace package.
-from pkgutil import extend_path
-
-__path__ = extend_path(__path__, __name__)
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 3e4266db15..33981468f2 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ For packagers:
 * The minimum supported Python version is now 3.8.
 * The `beet` script has been removed from the repository.
 * The `typing_extensions` is required for Python 3.10 and below.
+* External plugin developers: ``beetsplug/__init__.py`` file can be removed
+  from your plugin as beets now uses native/implicit namespace package setup.
 
 Other changes:
 
diff --git a/docs/dev/plugins.rst b/docs/dev/plugins.rst
index 92a7f870e8..ce19a43c81 100644
--- a/docs/dev/plugins.rst
+++ b/docs/dev/plugins.rst
@@ -3,46 +3,54 @@
 Writing Plugins
 ---------------
 
-A beets plugin is just a Python module inside the ``beetsplug`` namespace
-package. (Check out this `Stack Overflow question about namespace packages`_ if
-you haven't heard of them.) So, to make one, create a directory called
-``beetsplug`` and put two files in it: one called ``__init__.py`` and one called
-``myawesomeplugin.py`` (but don't actually call it that). Your directory
-structure should look like this::
+A beets plugin is just a Python module or package inside the ``beetsplug``
+namespace package. (Check out this `Stack Overflow question about namespace
+packages`_ if you haven't heard of them.) So, to make one, create a directory
+called ``beetsplug`` and add either your plugin module::
 
     beetsplug/
-        __init__.py
         myawesomeplugin.py
 
-.. _Stack Overflow question about namespace packages:
-    https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1675734/how-do-i-create-a-namespace-package-in-python/1676069#1676069
+or your plugin subpackage::
 
-Then, you'll need to put this stuff in ``__init__.py`` to make ``beetsplug`` a
-namespace package::
+    beetsplug/
+        myawesomeplugin/
+            __init__.py
+            myawesomeplugin.py
+
+.. attention::
 
-    from pkgutil import extend_path
-    __path__ = extend_path(__path__, __name__)
+    You must not add a ``__init__.py`` file to the ``beetsplug`` directory.
+    This ensures that Python treats your plugin as a namespace package. If you
+    added ``__init__.py`` file, beets would be unable to find any other plugins
+    in the ``beetsplug`` directory.
 
-That's all for ``__init__.py``; you can can leave it alone. The meat of your
-plugin goes in ``myawesomeplugin.py``. There, you'll have to import the
-``beets.plugins`` module and define a subclass of the ``BeetsPlugin`` class
-found therein. Here's a skeleton of a plugin file::
+The meat of your plugin goes in ``myawesomeplugin.py``. There, you'll have to
+import ``BeetsPlugin`` from ``beets.plugins`` and subclass it, for example
+
+.. code-block:: python
 
     from beets.plugins import BeetsPlugin
 
-    class MyPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
+    class MyAwesomePlugin(BeetsPlugin):
         pass
 
 Once you have your ``BeetsPlugin`` subclass, there's a variety of things your
 plugin can do. (Read on!)
 
 To use your new plugin, make sure the directory that contains your
-``beetsplug`` directory is in the Python
-path (using ``PYTHONPATH`` or by installing in a `virtualenv`_, for example).
-Then, as described above, edit your ``config.yaml`` to include
-``plugins: myawesomeplugin`` (substituting the name of the Python module
-containing your plugin).
+``beetsplug`` directory is in the Python path (using ``PYTHONPATH`` or by
+installing in a `virtualenv`_, for example). Then, add your plugin to beets configuration
 
+.. code-block:: yaml
+
+    # config.yaml
+    plugins:
+      - myawesomeplugin
+
+and you're good to go!
+
+.. _Stack Overflow question about namespace packages: https://stackoverflow.com/a/27586272/9582674
 .. _virtualenv: https://pypi.org/project/virtualenv
 
 .. _add_subcommands:
@@ -249,13 +257,13 @@ The events currently available are:
   during a ``beet import`` interactive session. Plugins can use this event for
   :ref:`appending choices to the prompt <append_prompt_choices>` by returning a
   list of ``PromptChoices``. Parameters: ``task`` and ``session``.
-  
+
 * `mb_track_extract`: called after the metadata is obtained from
   MusicBrainz. The parameter is a ``dict`` containing the tags retrieved from
   MusicBrainz for a track. Plugins must return a new (potentially empty)
   ``dict`` with additional ``field: value`` pairs, which the autotagger will
   apply to the item, as flexible attributes if ``field`` is not a hardcoded
-  field. Fields already present on the track are overwritten. 
+  field. Fields already present on the track are overwritten.
   Parameter: ``data``
 
 * `mb_album_extract`: Like `mb_track_extract`, but for album tags. Overwrites
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index f694906307..d081275374 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -35,3 +35,5 @@ allow_any_generics = false
 # FIXME: Would be better to actually type the libraries (if under our control),
 # or write our own stubs. For now, silence errors
 ignore_missing_imports = true
+namespace_packages = true
+explicit_package_bases = true