diff --git a/.changeset/twelve-elephants-pay.md b/.changeset/twelve-elephants-pay.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f82b0464b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/twelve-elephants-pay.md
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-techdocs-backend': minor
+'@backstage/plugin-techdocs-node': minor
+---
+
+Add support for default mkdocs plugins.
+
+So far only `techdocs-core` was added as default to the list of mkdocs plugins. In case you use a
+custom image for techdocs, you also might want to add custom default plugins for mkdocs.
+With this change one can do that - example:
+
+```yaml
+techdocs:
+  generator:
+    mkdocs:
+      defaultPlugins:
+        - section-index
+```
diff --git a/docs/features/techdocs/configuration.md b/docs/features/techdocs/configuration.md
index 49ee9d72c2..f567bfbac9 100644
--- a/docs/features/techdocs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/features/techdocs/configuration.md
@@ -49,6 +49,15 @@ techdocs:
       # will be broken in these scenarios.
       legacyCopyReadmeMdToIndexMd: false
 
+      # (Optional) Configures the default plugins which should be added
+      # automatically to every mkdocs.yaml file. This simplifies the usage as
+      # e.g. styling plugins can be added once for all.
+      # Make sure that the defined plugins are installed locally / in the Docker
+      # image.
+      # By default, only the techdocs-core plugin will be added (except if
+      # omitTechdocsCorePlugin: true).
+      defaultPlugins: ['techdocs-core']
+
   # techdocs.builder can be either 'local' or 'external'.
   # Using the default build strategy, if builder is set to 'local' and you open a TechDocs page,
   # techdocs-backend will try to generate the docs, publish to storage and show the generated docs afterwards.
diff --git a/plugins/techdocs-backend/config.d.ts b/plugins/techdocs-backend/config.d.ts
index 3a05beabdc..9ad2594ffd 100644
--- a/plugins/techdocs-backend/config.d.ts
+++ b/plugins/techdocs-backend/config.d.ts
@@ -57,6 +57,11 @@ export interface Config {
          * will be broken in these scenarios.
          */
         legacyCopyReadmeMdToIndexMd?: boolean;
+
+        /**
+         * List of mkdocs plugins which should be added as default to all mkdocs.yml files.
+         */
+        defaultPlugins?: string[];
       };
     };
 
diff --git a/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/helpers.test.ts b/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/helpers.test.ts
index 6bcdf0d984..e20e20ea5b 100644
--- a/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/helpers.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/helpers.test.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ import {
 } from './helpers';
 import {
   patchMkdocsYmlPreBuild,
-  pathMkdocsYmlWithTechdocsPlugin,
+  patchMkdocsYmlWithPlugins,
 } from './mkdocsPatchers';
 import yaml from 'js-yaml';
 
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ describe('helpers', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  describe('pathMkdocsYmlWithTechdocsPlugin', () => {
+  describe('patchMkdocsYmlWithPlugins', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
       mockFs({
         '/mkdocs_with_techdocs_plugin.yml': mkdocsYmlWithTechdocsPlugins,
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ describe('helpers', () => {
       });
     });
     it('should not add additional plugins if techdocs exists already in mkdocs file', async () => {
-      await pathMkdocsYmlWithTechdocsPlugin(
+      await patchMkdocsYmlWithPlugins(
         '/mkdocs_with_techdocs_plugin.yml',
         mockLogger,
       );
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ describe('helpers', () => {
       expect(parsedYml.plugins).toContain('techdocs-core');
     });
     it("should add the needed plugin if it doesn't exist in mkdocs file", async () => {
-      await pathMkdocsYmlWithTechdocsPlugin(
+      await patchMkdocsYmlWithPlugins(
         '/mkdocs_without_plugins.yml',
         mockLogger,
       );
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ describe('helpers', () => {
       expect(parsedYml.plugins).toContain('techdocs-core');
     });
     it('should not override existing plugins', async () => {
-      await pathMkdocsYmlWithTechdocsPlugin(
+      await patchMkdocsYmlWithPlugins(
         '/mkdocs_with_additional_plugins.yml',
         mockLogger,
       );
@@ -362,6 +362,23 @@ describe('helpers', () => {
       expect(parsedYml.plugins).toContain('not-techdocs-core');
       expect(parsedYml.plugins).toContain('also-not-techdocs-core');
     });
+    it('should add all provided default plugins', async () => {
+      await patchMkdocsYmlWithPlugins(
+        '/mkdocs_with_additional_plugins.yml',
+        mockLogger,
+        ['techdocs-core', 'custom-plugin'],
+      );
+
+      const updatedMkdocsYml = await fs.readFile(
+        '/mkdocs_with_additional_plugins.yml',
+      );
+      const parsedYml = yaml.load(updatedMkdocsYml.toString()) as {
+        plugins: string[];
+      };
+      expect(parsedYml.plugins).toHaveLength(4);
+      expect(parsedYml.plugins).toContain('techdocs-core');
+      expect(parsedYml.plugins).toContain('custom-plugin');
+    });
   });
 
   describe('patchIndexPreBuild', () => {
diff --git a/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/mkdocsPatchers.ts b/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/mkdocsPatchers.ts
index d03b5d83c2..945aab3884 100644
--- a/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/mkdocsPatchers.ts
+++ b/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/mkdocsPatchers.ts
@@ -138,27 +138,34 @@ export const patchMkdocsYmlPreBuild = async (
  * Update the mkdocs.yml file before TechDocs generator uses it to generate docs site.
  *
  * List of tasks:
- * - Add techdocs-core plugin to mkdocs file if it doesn't exist
+ * - Add all provided default plugins
  *
  * This function will not throw an error since this is not critical to the whole TechDocs pipeline.
  * Instead it will log warnings if there are any errors in reading, parsing or writing YAML.
  *
  * @param mkdocsYmlPath - Absolute path to mkdocs.yml or equivalent of a docs site
  * @param logger - A logger instance
+ * @param defaultPlugins - List of default mkdocs plugins
  */
-export const pathMkdocsYmlWithTechdocsPlugin = async (
+export const patchMkdocsYmlWithPlugins = async (
   mkdocsYmlPath: string,
   logger: Logger,
+  defaultPlugins: string[] = ['techdocs-core'],
 ) => {
   await patchMkdocsFile(mkdocsYmlPath, logger, mkdocsYml => {
-    // Modify mkdocs.yaml to contain the needed techdocs-core plugin if it is not there
+    // Modify mkdocs.yaml to contain the required default plugins
     if (!('plugins' in mkdocsYml)) {
-      mkdocsYml.plugins = ['techdocs-core'];
+      mkdocsYml.plugins = defaultPlugins;
       return true;
     }
 
-    if (mkdocsYml.plugins && !mkdocsYml.plugins.includes('techdocs-core')) {
-      mkdocsYml.plugins.push('techdocs-core');
+    if (
+      mkdocsYml.plugins &&
+      !defaultPlugins.every(plugin => mkdocsYml.plugins!.includes(plugin))
+    ) {
+      mkdocsYml.plugins = [
+        ...new Set([...mkdocsYml.plugins, ...defaultPlugins]),
+      ];
       return true;
     }
     return false;
diff --git a/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/techdocs.test.ts b/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/techdocs.test.ts
index 11c9ee0135..82bfcfff55 100644
--- a/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/techdocs.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/techdocs.test.ts
@@ -157,4 +157,24 @@ describe('readGeneratorConfig', () => {
       legacyCopyReadmeMdToIndexMd: true,
     });
   });
+
+  it('should read the default plugins config', () => {
+    const config = new ConfigReader({
+      techdocs: {
+        generator: {
+          runIn: 'docker',
+          dockerImage: 'my-org/techdocs',
+          pullImage: false,
+          mkdocs: { defaultPlugins: ['mkdocs-custom-plugin'] },
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(readGeneratorConfig(config, logger)).toEqual({
+      runIn: 'docker',
+      dockerImage: 'my-org/techdocs',
+      pullImage: false,
+      defaultPlugins: ['mkdocs-custom-plugin'],
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/techdocs.ts b/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/techdocs.ts
index 06160b85c9..b1baf214b3 100644
--- a/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/techdocs.ts
+++ b/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/techdocs.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ import {
 
 import {
   patchMkdocsYmlPreBuild,
-  pathMkdocsYmlWithTechdocsPlugin,
+  patchMkdocsYmlWithPlugins,
 } from './mkdocsPatchers';
 import {
   GeneratorBase,
@@ -121,10 +121,18 @@ export class TechdocsGenerator implements GeneratorBase {
       await patchIndexPreBuild({ inputDir, logger: childLogger, docsDir });
     }
 
-    if (!this.options.omitTechdocsCoreMkdocsPlugin) {
-      await pathMkdocsYmlWithTechdocsPlugin(mkdocsYmlPath, childLogger);
+    // patch the list of mkdocs plugins
+    const defaultPlugins = this.options.defaultPlugins ?? [];
+
+    if (
+      !this.options.omitTechdocsCoreMkdocsPlugin &&
+      !defaultPlugins.includes('techdocs-core')
+    ) {
+      defaultPlugins.push('techdocs-core');
     }
 
+    await patchMkdocsYmlWithPlugins(mkdocsYmlPath, childLogger, defaultPlugins);
+
     // Directories to bind on container
     const mountDirs = {
       [inputDir]: '/input',
@@ -233,5 +241,8 @@ export function readGeneratorConfig(
     legacyCopyReadmeMdToIndexMd: config.getOptionalBoolean(
       'techdocs.generator.mkdocs.legacyCopyReadmeMdToIndexMd',
     ),
+    defaultPlugins: config.getOptionalStringArray(
+      'techdocs.generator.mkdocs.defaultPlugins',
+    ),
   };
 }
diff --git a/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/types.ts b/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/types.ts
index 70c332344a..eca1057914 100644
--- a/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/types.ts
+++ b/plugins/techdocs-node/src/stages/generate/types.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ export type GeneratorConfig = {
   pullImage?: boolean;
   omitTechdocsCoreMkdocsPlugin?: boolean;
   legacyCopyReadmeMdToIndexMd?: boolean;
+  defaultPlugins?: string[];
 };
 
 /**