diff --git a/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/hre-intialization.ts b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/hre-intialization.ts
index 09e76a1fc2..3b3de8a77d 100644
--- a/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/hre-intialization.ts
+++ b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/hre-intialization.ts
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ export async function createHardhatRuntimeEnvironment(
   const resolvedProjectRoot = await resolveProjectRoot(projectRoot);
 
   if (unsafeOptions.resolvedPlugins === undefined) {
-    const plugins = [...(config.plugins ?? []), ...builtinPlugins];
+    const plugins = [...builtinPlugins, ...(config.plugins ?? [])];
 
     const resolvedPlugins = await resolvePluginList(
       resolvedProjectRoot,
diff --git a/v-next/hardhat/test/internal/example-mock-artifacts-plugin-using-test.ts b/v-next/hardhat/test/internal/example-mock-artifacts-plugin-using-test.ts
index 764942b30b..1eba638df7 100644
--- a/v-next/hardhat/test/internal/example-mock-artifacts-plugin-using-test.ts
+++ b/v-next/hardhat/test/internal/example-mock-artifacts-plugin-using-test.ts
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ import { describe, it } from "node:test";
 import { task } from "../../src/config.js";
 import { createMockHardhatRuntimeEnvironment } from "../test-helpers/create-mock-hardhat-runtime-environment.js";
 
-describe.only("createMockHardhatRuntimeEnvironment", () => {
-  it.only("should allow plugins that leverage the artifact hre object", async () => {
+describe("createMockHardhatRuntimeEnvironment", () => {
+  it("should allow plugins that leverage the artifact hre object", async () => {
     // arrange
     const exampleArtifact: Artifact = {
       _format: "hh-sol-artifact-1",
diff --git a/v-next/hardhat/test/test-helpers/create-mock-hardhat-runtime-environment.ts b/v-next/hardhat/test/test-helpers/create-mock-hardhat-runtime-environment.ts
index c803e25b82..a88e4dd9b2 100644
--- a/v-next/hardhat/test/test-helpers/create-mock-hardhat-runtime-environment.ts
+++ b/v-next/hardhat/test/test-helpers/create-mock-hardhat-runtime-environment.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import type {
   CompilerOutput,
 } from "../../src/types/artifacts.js";
 import type { GlobalOptions } from "../../src/types/global-options.js";
-import type { HookContext } from "../../src/types/hooks.js";
 import type { HardhatRuntimeEnvironment } from "../../src/types/hre.js";
 import type { HardhatPlugin } from "../../src/types/plugins.js";
 
@@ -133,15 +132,20 @@ export async function createMockHardhatRuntimeEnvironment(
 
 const mockArtifactsPlugin: HardhatPlugin = {
   id: "mock-artifacts",
-  // dependencies: [async () => artifacts],
+  dependencies: [async () => artifacts],
   hookHandlers: {
     hre: async () => {
       return {
         created: async (
-          _context: HookContext,
-          hre: HardhatRuntimeEnvironment,
-        ): Promise<void> => {
-          hre.artifacts = new MockArtifactsManager();
+          context,
+          hre,
+          next,
+        ): Promise<HardhatRuntimeEnvironment> => {
+          const updatedHre = await next(context, hre);
+
+          updatedHre.artifacts = new MockArtifactsManager();
+
+          return updatedHre;
         },
       };
     },