diff --git a/packages/backend-plugin-api/src/services/definitions/index.ts b/packages/backend-plugin-api/src/services/definitions/index.ts
index 797cfb5a76..fb204df495 100644
--- a/packages/backend-plugin-api/src/services/definitions/index.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-plugin-api/src/services/definitions/index.ts
@@ -26,3 +26,4 @@ export { discoveryServiceRef } from './discoveryServiceRef';
 export { tokenManagerServiceRef } from './tokenManagerServiceRef';
 export { permissionsServiceRef } from './permissionsServiceRef';
 export { schedulerServiceRef } from './schedulerServiceRef';
+export { pluginMetadataServiceRef } from './pluginMetadataServiceRef';
diff --git a/packages/backend-plugin-api/src/services/definitions/pluginMetadataServiceRef.ts b/packages/backend-plugin-api/src/services/definitions/pluginMetadataServiceRef.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3af6e54900
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend-plugin-api/src/services/definitions/pluginMetadataServiceRef.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2022 The Backstage Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import { createServiceRef } from '../system/types';
+
+/**
+ * @public
+ */
+export interface PluginMetadata {
+  getId(): string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * @public
+ */
+export const pluginMetadataServiceRef = createServiceRef<PluginMetadata>({
+  id: 'core.plugin-metadata',
+});