diff --git a/src/wp-admin/includes/plugin.php b/src/wp-admin/includes/plugin.php
index 9079a5df66..487df7f4f6 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/plugin.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/plugin.php
@@ -661,14 +661,8 @@ function activate_plugin( $plugin, $redirect = '', $network_wide = false, $silen
 
 		ob_start();
 
-		if ( ! defined( 'WP_SANDBOX_SCRAPING' ) ) {
-			define( 'WP_SANDBOX_SCRAPING', true );
-		}
-
-		wp_register_plugin_realpath( WP_PLUGIN_DIR . '/' . $plugin );
-		$_wp_plugin_file = $plugin;
-		include_once WP_PLUGIN_DIR . '/' . $plugin;
-		$plugin = $_wp_plugin_file; // Avoid stomping of the $plugin variable in a plugin.
+		// Load the plugin to test whether it throws any errors.
+		plugin_sandbox_scrape( $plugin );
 
 		if ( ! $silent ) {
 			/**
@@ -732,6 +726,7 @@ function activate_plugin( $plugin, $redirect = '', $network_wide = false, $silen
 			$output = ob_get_clean();
 			return new WP_Error( 'unexpected_output', __( 'The plugin generated unexpected output.' ), $output );
 		}
+
 		ob_end_clean();
 	}