diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 49d96a9..90635af 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## Unreleased
+
+### Plugins
+
+- Every plugin module is registered in `sys.modules` before it runs, so a single-file plugin may define a dataclass under `from __future__ import annotations` (#105).
+
 ## 0.3.0 (2026-09-22)
 
 ### Plugins
diff --git a/src/coretrace_python/plugins/loader.py b/src/coretrace_python/plugins/loader.py
index a0b703e..17d2411 100644
--- a/src/coretrace_python/plugins/loader.py
+++ b/src/coretrace_python/plugins/loader.py
@@ -67,8 +67,9 @@ def _import_entrypoint(directory: Path, manifest: PluginManifest) -> type[Plugin
     """Import the entrypoint, a module ``<name>.py`` or a package ``<name>/__init__.py``.
 
     The module name derives from the path, so two plugins may both call their module
-    ``models``; a package is registered in ``sys.modules`` under that name before it
-    runs, which is what its relative imports resolve through."""
+    ``models``. The module is registered in ``sys.modules`` under that name before it
+    runs: a package's relative imports resolve through it, and so does ``dataclasses``
+    when it evaluates postponed annotations."""
 
     package_path = directory / manifest.entrypoint.module / "__init__.py"
     is_package = package_path.is_file()
@@ -87,8 +88,7 @@ def _import_entrypoint(directory: Path, manifest: PluginManifest) -> type[Plugin
     )
     assert spec is not None and spec.loader is not None
     module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
-    if is_package:
-        sys.modules[name] = module
+    sys.modules[name] = module
     spec.loader.exec_module(module)
 
     candidate = getattr(module, manifest.entrypoint.class_name, None)
diff --git a/tests/test_plugins.py b/tests/test_plugins.py
index d9704e6..289fb7e 100644
--- a/tests/test_plugins.py
+++ b/tests/test_plugins.py
@@ -378,6 +378,29 @@ def write_package(directory: Path, label: str) -> None:
     )
 
 
+def test_a_single_file_plugin_may_define_a_dataclass_with_postponed_annotations(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    write_manifest(tmp_path)
+    (tmp_path / "sample.py").write_text(
+        "from __future__ import annotations\n\n"
+        "from dataclasses import dataclass\n"
+        "from typing import ClassVar\n\n"
+        "from coretrace_python.plugins import Plugin, PluginContext\n\n\n"
+        "@dataclass(frozen=True)\n"
+        "class Rule:\n"
+        "    prefix: str\n\n\n"
+        "class SamplePlugin(Plugin):\n"
+        '    name: ClassVar[str] = "sample"\n'
+        "    rule = Rule('app')\n\n"
+        "    def analyze(self, ctx: PluginContext) -> list:\n"
+        "        return []\n",
+        encoding="utf-8",
+    )
+
+    loaded = load_plugin(tmp_path, manager_for(""))
+
+    assert loaded.plugin.rule.prefix == "app"
+
+
 def test_loads_a_plugin_package_with_relative_imports(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     write_manifest(tmp_path)
     write_package(tmp_path, "task")