diff --git a/bukkit/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/bukkit/LPBukkitBootstrap.java b/bukkit/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/bukkit/LPBukkitBootstrap.java
index fd9333f76..949af47bc 100644
--- a/bukkit/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/bukkit/LPBukkitBootstrap.java
+++ b/bukkit/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/bukkit/LPBukkitBootstrap.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ package me.lucko.luckperms.bukkit;
 
 import me.lucko.luckperms.bukkit.util.NullSafeConsoleCommandSender;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.loader.LoaderBootstrap;
+import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.bootstrap.BootstrappedWithLoader;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.bootstrap.LuckPermsBootstrap;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.classpath.ClassPathAppender;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.classpath.JarInJarClassPathAppender;
@@ -56,7 +57,7 @@ import java.util.logging.Logger;
 /**
  * Bootstrap plugin for LuckPerms running on Bukkit.
  */
-public class LPBukkitBootstrap implements LuckPermsBootstrap, LoaderBootstrap {
+public class LPBukkitBootstrap implements LuckPermsBootstrap, LoaderBootstrap, BootstrappedWithLoader {
     private final JavaPlugin loader;
 
     /**
@@ -111,6 +112,7 @@ public class LPBukkitBootstrap implements LuckPermsBootstrap, LoaderBootstrap {
 
     // provide adapters
 
+    @Override
     public JavaPlugin getLoader() {
         return this.loader;
     }
diff --git a/bungee/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/bungee/LPBungeeBootstrap.java b/bungee/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/bungee/LPBungeeBootstrap.java
index 3174c80a0..5caccd210 100644
--- a/bungee/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/bungee/LPBungeeBootstrap.java
+++ b/bungee/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/bungee/LPBungeeBootstrap.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ package me.lucko.luckperms.bungee;
 
 import me.lucko.luckperms.bungee.util.RedisBungeeUtil;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.loader.LoaderBootstrap;
+import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.bootstrap.BootstrappedWithLoader;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.bootstrap.LuckPermsBootstrap;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.classpath.ClassPathAppender;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.classpath.JarInJarClassPathAppender;
@@ -56,7 +57,7 @@ import java.util.logging.Logger;
 /**
  * Bootstrap plugin for LuckPerms running on BungeeCord.
  */
-public class LPBungeeBootstrap implements LuckPermsBootstrap, LoaderBootstrap {
+public class LPBungeeBootstrap implements LuckPermsBootstrap, LoaderBootstrap, BootstrappedWithLoader {
     private final Plugin loader;
 
     /**
@@ -101,6 +102,7 @@ public class LPBungeeBootstrap implements LuckPermsBootstrap, LoaderBootstrap {
 
     // provide adapters
 
+    @Override
     public Plugin getLoader() {
         return this.loader;
     }
diff --git a/common/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/common/api/LuckPermsApiProvider.java b/common/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/common/api/LuckPermsApiProvider.java
index 77aecbc4f..143df9e4f 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/common/api/LuckPermsApiProvider.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/common/api/LuckPermsApiProvider.java
@@ -41,8 +41,12 @@ import me.lucko.luckperms.common.config.ConfigKeys;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.event.AbstractEventBus;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.messaging.LuckPermsMessagingService;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.LuckPermsPlugin;
+import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.bootstrap.BootstrappedWithLoader;
+import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.bootstrap.LuckPermsBootstrap;
+import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.logging.PluginLogger;
 
 import net.luckperms.api.LuckPerms;
+import net.luckperms.api.LuckPermsProvider;
 import net.luckperms.api.actionlog.ActionLogger;
 import net.luckperms.api.context.ContextManager;
 import net.luckperms.api.messaging.MessagingService;
@@ -93,6 +97,37 @@ public class LuckPermsApiProvider implements LuckPerms {
         this.metaStackFactory = new ApiMetaStackFactory(plugin);
     }
 
+    public void ensureApiWasLoadedByPlugin() {
+        LuckPermsBootstrap bootstrap = this.plugin.getBootstrap();
+        ClassLoader pluginClassLoader;
+        if (bootstrap instanceof BootstrappedWithLoader) {
+            pluginClassLoader = ((BootstrappedWithLoader) bootstrap).getLoader().getClass().getClassLoader();
+        } else {
+            pluginClassLoader = bootstrap.getClass().getClassLoader();
+        }
+
+        for (Class<?> apiClass : new Class[]{LuckPerms.class, LuckPermsProvider.class}) {
+            ClassLoader apiClassLoader = apiClass.getClassLoader();
+
+            if (!apiClassLoader.equals(pluginClassLoader)) {
+                String guilty = "unknown";
+                try {
+                    guilty = bootstrap.identifyClassLoader(apiClassLoader);
+                } catch (Exception e) {
+                    // ignore
+                }
+
+                PluginLogger logger = this.plugin.getLogger();
+                logger.warn("It seems that the LuckPerms API has been (class)loaded by a plugin other than LuckPerms!");
+                logger.warn("The API was loaded by " + apiClassLoader + " (" + guilty + ") and the " +
+                        "LuckPerms plugin was loaded by " + pluginClassLoader.toString() + ".");
+                logger.warn("This indicates that the other plugin has incorrectly \"shaded\" the " +
+                        "LuckPerms API into its jar file. This can cause errors at runtime and should be fixed.");
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     @Override
     public @NonNull String getServerName() {
         return this.plugin.getConfiguration().get(ConfigKeys.SERVER);
diff --git a/common/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/common/plugin/AbstractLuckPermsPlugin.java b/common/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/common/plugin/AbstractLuckPermsPlugin.java
index 4836b9e76..f6f2fd806 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/common/plugin/AbstractLuckPermsPlugin.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/common/plugin/AbstractLuckPermsPlugin.java
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractLuckPermsPlugin implements LuckPermsPlugin {
 
         // register with the LP API
         this.apiProvider = new LuckPermsApiProvider(this);
+        this.apiProvider.ensureApiWasLoadedByPlugin();
         this.eventDispatcher = new EventDispatcher(provideEventBus(this.apiProvider));
         getBootstrap().getScheduler().executeAsync(GeneratedEventClass::preGenerate);
         ApiRegistrationUtil.registerProvider(this.apiProvider);
diff --git a/common/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/common/plugin/bootstrap/BootstrappedWithLoader.java b/common/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/common/plugin/bootstrap/BootstrappedWithLoader.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d5cdb6f65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/common/plugin/bootstrap/BootstrappedWithLoader.java
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * This file is part of LuckPerms, licensed under the MIT License.
+ *
+ *  Copyright (c) lucko (Luck) <luck@lucko.me>
+ *  Copyright (c) contributors
+ *
+ *  Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ *  of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ *  in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ *  to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ *  copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ *  furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ *  The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+ *  copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ *  THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ *  IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ *  FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ *  AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ *  LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ *  OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+ *  SOFTWARE.
+ */
+
+package me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.bootstrap;
+
+/**
+ * A {@link LuckPermsBootstrap} that was bootstrapped by a loader.
+ */
+public interface BootstrappedWithLoader {
+
+    /**
+     * Gets the loader object that did the bootstrapping.
+     *
+     * @return the loader
+     */
+    Object getLoader();
+
+}
diff --git a/nukkit/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/nukkit/LPNukkitBootstrap.java b/nukkit/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/nukkit/LPNukkitBootstrap.java
index 497f1d020..8dc90ad22 100644
--- a/nukkit/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/nukkit/LPNukkitBootstrap.java
+++ b/nukkit/src/main/java/me/lucko/luckperms/nukkit/LPNukkitBootstrap.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 package me.lucko.luckperms.nukkit;
 
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.loader.LoaderBootstrap;
+import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.bootstrap.BootstrappedWithLoader;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.bootstrap.LuckPermsBootstrap;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.classpath.ClassPathAppender;
 import me.lucko.luckperms.common.plugin.classpath.JarInJarClassPathAppender;
@@ -49,7 +50,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
 /**
  * Bootstrap plugin for LuckPerms running on Nukkit.
  */
-public class LPNukkitBootstrap implements LuckPermsBootstrap, LoaderBootstrap {
+public class LPNukkitBootstrap implements LuckPermsBootstrap, LoaderBootstrap, BootstrappedWithLoader {
     private final PluginBase loader;
 
     /**
@@ -91,6 +92,7 @@ public class LPNukkitBootstrap implements LuckPermsBootstrap, LoaderBootstrap {
 
     // provide adapters
 
+    @Override
     public PluginBase getLoader() {
         return this.loader;
     }