diff --git a/plugins/intel-usb4/fu-intel-usb4-plugin.c b/plugins/intel-usb4/fu-intel-usb4-plugin.c
index 6c7022904..7a0bea35a 100644
--- a/plugins/intel-usb4/fu-intel-usb4-plugin.c
+++ b/plugins/intel-usb4/fu-intel-usb4-plugin.c
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ G_DEFINE_TYPE(FuIntelUsb4Plugin, fu_intel_usb4_plugin, FU_TYPE_PLUGIN)
 static void
 fu_intel_usb4_plugin_init(FuIntelUsb4Plugin *self)
 {
+	fu_plugin_add_rule(FU_PLUGIN(self), FU_PLUGIN_RULE_RUN_BEFORE, "thunderbolt");
 }
 
 static void
@@ -27,9 +28,41 @@ fu_intel_usb4_plugin_constructed(GObject *obj)
 	fu_plugin_add_device_gtype(plugin, FU_TYPE_INTEL_USB4_DEVICE);
 }
 
+static void
+fu_intel_usb4_plugin_device_registered(FuPlugin *plugin, FuDevice *device)
+{
+	GPtrArray *devices = fu_plugin_get_devices(plugin);
+	GPtrArray *instance_ids = fu_device_get_instance_ids(device);
+
+	if (g_strcmp0(fu_device_get_plugin(device), "thunderbolt") != 0)
+		return;
+
+	/* prefer using this plugin over the thunderbolt one -- but the device ID is constructed
+	 * differently in each plugin as they're using very different update methods.
+	 * use the TBT-{nvm_vendor_id}{nvm_product_id} instance ID to match them up instead. */
+	for (guint i = 0; i < devices->len; i++) {
+		FuDevice *device_tmp = g_ptr_array_index(devices, i);
+		for (guint j = 0; j < instance_ids->len; j++) {
+			const gchar *instance_id = g_ptr_array_index(instance_ids, j);
+			if (g_str_has_prefix(instance_id, "TBT-") &&
+			    fu_device_has_instance_id(device_tmp, instance_id)) {
+				fu_device_remove_internal_flag(
+				    device,
+				    FU_DEVICE_INTERNAL_FLAG_REPLUG_MATCH_GUID);
+				fu_device_inhibit(device,
+						  "hidden",
+						  "updated by the intel-usb4 plugin instead");
+				return;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 static void
 fu_intel_usb4_plugin_class_init(FuIntelUsb4PluginClass *klass)
 {
+	FuPluginClass *plugin_class = FU_PLUGIN_CLASS(klass);
 	GObjectClass *object_class = G_OBJECT_CLASS(klass);
 	object_class->constructed = fu_intel_usb4_plugin_constructed;
+	plugin_class->device_registered = fu_intel_usb4_plugin_device_registered;
 }