diff --git a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/PluginManagerMain.java b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/PluginManagerMain.java
index 22fdb18f9b7e..9eb33fb76c29 100644
--- a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/PluginManagerMain.java
+++ b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/PluginManagerMain.java
@@ -26,10 +26,7 @@ import com.intellij.openapi.actionSystem.*;
 import com.intellij.openapi.application.ApplicationManager;
 import com.intellij.openapi.application.PathManager;
 import com.intellij.openapi.diagnostic.Logger;
-import com.intellij.openapi.progress.ProcessCanceledException;
-import com.intellij.openapi.progress.ProgressIndicator;
-import com.intellij.openapi.progress.ProgressManager;
-import com.intellij.openapi.progress.Task;
+import com.intellij.openapi.progress.*;
 import com.intellij.openapi.project.DumbAwareAction;
 import com.intellij.openapi.ui.Messages;
 import com.intellij.openapi.updateSettings.impl.PluginDownloader;
@@ -300,7 +297,7 @@ public abstract class PluginManagerMain implements Disposable {
                                         final Runnable cleanup) throws IOException {
     final boolean[] result = new boolean[1];
     try {
-      ProgressManager.getInstance().run(new Task.Backgroundable(null, IdeBundle.message("progress.download.plugins"), true) {
+      ProgressManager.getInstance().run(new Task.Backgroundable(null, IdeBundle.message("progress.download.plugins"), true, PluginManagerUISettings.getInstance()) {
         @Override
         public void run(@NotNull ProgressIndicator indicator) {
           try {
diff --git a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/PluginManagerUISettings.java b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/PluginManagerUISettings.java
index b6d4e72686ae..299a5c1d450b 100644
--- a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/PluginManagerUISettings.java
+++ b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/PluginManagerUISettings.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package com.intellij.ide.plugins;
 import com.intellij.ide.ui.SplitterProportionsDataImpl;
 import com.intellij.openapi.components.*;
 import com.intellij.openapi.diagnostic.Logger;
+import com.intellij.openapi.progress.PerformInBackgroundOption;
 import com.intellij.openapi.ui.SplitterProportionsData;
 import com.intellij.openapi.util.DefaultJDOMExternalizer;
 import com.intellij.openapi.util.InvalidDataException;
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ import javax.swing.*;
     file = StoragePathMacros.APP_CONFIG + "/plugin_ui.xml")
   }
 )
-public class PluginManagerUISettings implements PersistentStateComponent<Element> {
+public class PluginManagerUISettings implements PersistentStateComponent<Element>, PerformInBackgroundOption {
   private static final Logger LOG = Logger.getInstance("#com.intellij.ide.plugins.PluginManagerUISettings");
 
   public int AVAILABLE_SORT_COLUMN_ORDER = SortOrder.ASCENDING.ordinal();
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ public class PluginManagerUISettings implements PersistentStateComponent<Element
   public int AVAILABLE_SORT_MODE = 0;
   public boolean AVAILABLE_SORT_BY_STATUS = false;
   public boolean INSTALLED_SORT_BY_STATUS = false;
+  public boolean UPDATE_IN_BACKGROUND = false;
   public JDOMExternalizableStringList myOutdatedPlugins = new JDOMExternalizableStringList();
 
   private JDOMExternalizableStringList myInstalledPlugins = new JDOMExternalizableStringList();
@@ -100,4 +102,14 @@ public class PluginManagerUISettings implements PersistentStateComponent<Element
   public SplitterProportionsData getAvailableSplitterProportionsData() {
     return myAvailableSplitterProportionsData;
   }
+
+  @Override
+  public boolean shouldStartInBackground() {
+    return UPDATE_IN_BACKGROUND;
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public void processSentToBackground() {
+    UPDATE_IN_BACKGROUND = true;
+  }
 }