diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 69fe281c..8b7142dd 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@ examples/.ipynb_checkpoints/*
 examples/meetup/.ipynb_checkpoints/*
 deps/plotly-latest.min.js
 deps/build.log
+deps/deps.jl
diff --git a/deps/build.jl b/deps/build.jl
index ad328049..6993b263 100644
--- a/deps/build.jl
+++ b/deps/build.jl
@@ -1,8 +1,21 @@
 
 #TODO: download https://cdn.plot.ly/plotly-latest.min.js to deps/ if it doesn't exist
-
-local_fn = joinpath(dirname(@__FILE__), "plotly-latest.min.js")
-if !isfile(local_fn)
-	@info("Cannot find deps/plotly-latest.min.js... downloading latest version.")
-	download("https://cdn.plot.ly/plotly-latest.min.js", local_fn)
+file_path = ""
+if get(ENV, "PLOTS_HOST_DEPENDENCY_LOCAL", "true") == "true"
+    global file_path
+    local_fn = joinpath(dirname(@__FILE__), "plotly-latest.min.js")
+    if !isfile(local_fn)
+        @info("Cannot find deps/plotly-latest.min.js... downloading latest version.")
+        download("https://cdn.plot.ly/plotly-latest.min.js", local_fn)
+        @show local_fn isfile(local_fn)
+        if isfile(local_fn)
+            file_path = local_fn
+        end
+    else
+        file_path = local_fn
+    end
+end
+
+open("deps.jl", "w") do io
+    println(io, "const plotly_local_file_path = $(repr(file_path))")
 end
diff --git a/src/Plots.jl b/src/Plots.jl
index 35b16001..8c4fd730 100644
--- a/src/Plots.jl
+++ b/src/Plots.jl
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ import JSON
 
 using Requires
 
+if isfile(joinpath(@__DIR__, "..", "deps", "deps.jl"))
+    include(joinpath(@__DIR__, "..", "deps", "deps.jl"))
+else
+    error("Plots not build, please run Pkg.build(\"Plots\")")
+end
+
 export
     grid,
     bbox,
diff --git a/src/backends/plotly.jl b/src/backends/plotly.jl
index 3e525b5b..33a0d3f6 100644
--- a/src/backends/plotly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/plotly.jl
@@ -71,27 +71,22 @@ end
 
 
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+const plotly_remote_file_path = "https://cdn.plot.ly/plotly-latest.min.js"
 
-
-const _plotly_js_path = joinpath(dirname(@__FILE__), "..", "..", "deps", "plotly-latest.min.js")
-const _plotly_js_path_remote = "https://cdn.plot.ly/plotly-latest.min.js"
-
-_js_code = open(read, _plotly_js_path, "r")
-
-# borrowed from https://github.com/plotly/plotly.py/blob/2594076e29584ede2d09f2aa40a8a195b3f3fc66/plotly/offline/offline.py#L64-L71 c/o @spencerlyon2
-_js_script = """
-    <script type='text/javascript'>
-        define('plotly', function(require, exports, module) {
-            $(_js_code)
-        });
-        require(['plotly'], function(Plotly) {
-            window.Plotly = Plotly;
-        });
-    </script>
-"""
-
-# if we're in IJulia call setupnotebook to load js and css
-if isijulia()
+if isfile(plotly_local_file_path) && isijulia()
+    _js_code = open(read, plotly_local_file_path, "r")
+    # borrowed from https://github.com/plotly/plotly.py/blob/2594076e29584ede2d09f2aa40a8a195b3f3fc66/plotly/offline/offline.py#L64-L71 c/o @spencerlyon2
+    _js_script = """
+        <script type='text/javascript'>
+            define('plotly', function(require, exports, module) {
+                $(_js_code)
+            });
+            require(['plotly'], function(Plotly) {
+                window.Plotly = Plotly;
+            });
+        </script>
+    """
+    # if we're in IJulia call setupnotebook to load js and css
     display("text/html", _js_script)
 end
 
@@ -102,8 +97,6 @@ end
 using UUIDs
 
 push!(_initialized_backends, :plotly)
-
-
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------
 
 const _plotly_legend_pos = KW(
@@ -115,7 +108,7 @@ const _plotly_legend_pos = KW(
     :bottomright => [1., 0.],
     :topright => [1., 1.],
     :topleft => [0., 1.]
-    )
+)
 
 plotly_legend_pos(pos::Symbol) = get(_plotly_legend_pos, pos, [1.,1.])
 plotly_legend_pos(v::Tuple{S,T}) where {S<:Real, T<:Real} = v
@@ -882,11 +875,9 @@ plotly_series_json(plt::Plot) = JSON.json(plotly_series(plt))
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------
 
-const _use_remote = Ref(false)
-
 function html_head(plt::Plot{PlotlyBackend})
-    jsfilename = _use_remote[] ? _plotly_js_path_remote : ("file://" * _plotly_js_path)
-    # "<script src=\"$(joinpath(dirname(@__FILE__),"..","..","deps","plotly-latest.min.js"))\"></script>"
+    local_file = ("file://" * plotly_local_file_path)
+    jsfilename = use_local_dependencies[] ? local_file : plotly_remote_file_path
     "<script src=\"$jsfilename\"></script>"
 end
 
@@ -908,8 +899,8 @@ end
 
 function js_body(plt::Plot{PlotlyBackend}, uuid)
     js = """
-          PLOT = document.getElementById('$(uuid)');
-          Plotly.plot(PLOT, $(plotly_series_json(plt)), $(plotly_layout_json(plt)));
+        PLOT = document.getElementById('$(uuid)');
+        Plotly.plot(PLOT, $(plotly_series_json(plt)), $(plotly_layout_json(plt)));
     """
 end
 
diff --git a/src/backends/web.jl b/src/backends/web.jl
index 55984167..336cdeb0 100644
--- a/src/backends/web.jl
+++ b/src/backends/web.jl
@@ -42,8 +42,14 @@ function write_temp_html(plt::AbstractPlot)
 end
 
 function standalone_html_window(plt::AbstractPlot)
+    old = use_local_dependencies[] # save state to restore afterwards
+    # if we open a browser ourself, we can host local files, so we
+    # when we have a local plotly downloaded this is the way to go!
+    use_local_dependencies[] = isfile(plotly_local_file_path)
     filename = write_temp_html(plt)
     open_browser_window(filename)
+    # restore for other backends
+    use_local_dependencies[] = old
 end
 
 # uses wkhtmltopdf/wkhtmltoimage: http://wkhtmltopdf.org/downloads.html
diff --git a/src/init.jl b/src/init.jl
index 08d1dd2b..fd6fce03 100644
--- a/src/init.jl
+++ b/src/init.jl
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
+const use_local_dependencies = Ref(false)
+
 function __init__()
+
     if isdefined(Main, :PLOTS_DEFAULTS)
         if haskey(Main.PLOTS_DEFAULTS, :theme)
             theme(Main.PLOTS_DEFAULTS[:theme])
@@ -27,10 +30,11 @@ function __init__()
     # ---------------------------------------------------------
     # IJulia
     # ---------------------------------------------------------
-
+    use_local = false
     @require IJulia = "7073ff75-c697-5162-941a-fcdaad2a7d2a" begin
         if IJulia.inited
-
+            # IJulia is more stable with local file
+            use_local = isfile(plotly_local_file_path)
             """
             Add extra jupyter mimetypes to display_dict based on the plot backed.
 
@@ -80,4 +84,13 @@ function __init__()
             ENV["MPLBACKEND"] = "Agg"
         end
     end
+    if haskey(ENV, "PLOTS_HOST_DEPENDENCY_LOCAL")
+        use_local = ENV["PLOTS_HOST_DEPENDENCY_LOCAL"] == "true"
+        use_local_dependencies[] = isfile(plotly_local_file_path) && use_local
+        if use_local && !isfile(plotly_local_file_path)
+            @warn("PLOTS_HOST_DEPENDENCY_LOCAL is set to true, but no local plotly file found. run Pkg.build(\"Plots\") and make sure PLOTS_HOST_DEPENDENCY_LOCAL is set to true")
+        end
+    else
+        use_local_dependencies[] = use_local
+    end
 end