diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index ae036f6..3f4931f 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
     },
     "require-dev": {
         "phpunit/phpunit":   "^5.4.7",
-        "composer/composer": "^1.2.0"
+        "composer/composer": "^1.3",
+        "ext-zip":           "*"
     },
     "autoload": {
         "psr-4": {
diff --git a/src/PackageVersions/Installer.php b/src/PackageVersions/Installer.php
index 7756ce7..81ff5b4 100644
--- a/src/PackageVersions/Installer.php
+++ b/src/PackageVersions/Installer.php
@@ -80,14 +80,20 @@ public static function getSubscribedEvents()
      */
     public static function dumpVersionsClass(Event $composerEvent)
     {
-        $io = $composerEvent->getIO();
+        $composer = $composerEvent->getComposer();
+        $versions = iterator_to_array(self::getVersions($composer->getLocker(), $composer->getPackage()));
 
-        $io->write('<info>ocramius/package-versions:</info>  Generating version class...');
+        if (!array_key_exists('ocramius/package-versions', $versions)) {
+            //plugin must be globally installed - we only want to generate versions for projects which specifically
+            //require ocramius/package-versions
+            return;
+        }
 
-        $composer = $composerEvent->getComposer();
+        $io = $composerEvent->getIO();
+        $io->write('<info>ocramius/package-versions:</info>  Generating version class...');
 
         self::writeVersionClassToFile(
-            self::generateVersionsClass($composer),
+            self::generateVersionsClass($versions),
             $composer->getConfig(),
             $composer->getPackage()
         );
@@ -95,12 +101,12 @@ public static function dumpVersionsClass(Event $composerEvent)
         $io->write('<info>ocramius/package-versions:</info> ...done generating version class');
     }
 
-    private static function generateVersionsClass(Composer $composer) : string
+    private static function generateVersionsClass(array $versions) : string
     {
         return sprintf(
             self::$generatedClassTemplate,
             'fin' . 'al ' . 'cla' . 'ss ' . 'Versions', // note: workaround for regex-based code parsers :-(
-            var_export(iterator_to_array(self::getVersions($composer->getLocker(), $composer->getPackage())), true)
+            var_export($versions, true)
         );
     }
 
diff --git a/test/PackageVersionsTest/E2EInstallerTest.php b/test/PackageVersionsTest/E2EInstallerTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8694edd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/PackageVersionsTest/E2EInstallerTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,245 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace PackageVersionsTest;
+
+use PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase;
+use RecursiveCallbackFilterIterator;
+use RecursiveDirectoryIterator;
+use RecursiveIteratorIterator;
+use SplFileInfo;
+use ZipArchive;
+
+/**
+ * @coversNothing
+ */
+class E2EInstaller extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+{
+    /**
+     * @var string
+     */
+    private $tempGlobalComposerHome;
+
+    /**
+     * @var string
+     */
+    private $tempLocalComposerHome;
+
+    /**
+     * @var string
+     */
+    private $tempArtifact;
+
+    public function setUp()
+    {
+        $this->tempGlobalComposerHome = sys_get_temp_dir() . '/' . uniqid('InstallerTest', true) . '/global';
+        $this->tempLocalComposerHome = sys_get_temp_dir() . '/' . uniqid('InstallerTest', true) . '/local';
+        $this->tempArtifact = sys_get_temp_dir() . '/' . uniqid('InstallerTest', true) . '/artifacts';
+        mkdir($this->tempGlobalComposerHome, 0700, true);
+        mkdir($this->tempLocalComposerHome, 0700, true);
+        mkdir($this->tempArtifact, 0700, true);
+
+        putenv('COMPOSER_HOME=' . $this->tempGlobalComposerHome);
+    }
+
+    public function tearDown()
+    {
+        $this->rmDir($this->tempGlobalComposerHome);
+        $this->rmDir($this->tempLocalComposerHome);
+        $this->rmDir($this->tempArtifact);
+
+        putenv('COMPOSER_HOME');
+    }
+
+    public function testGloballyInstalledPluginDoesNotGenerateVersionsForLocalProject()
+    {
+        $this->createPackageVersionsArtifact();
+
+        $this->writeComposerJsonFile(
+            [
+                'name'         => 'package-versions/e2e-global',
+                'require'      => [
+                    'ocramius/package-versions' => '1.0.0'
+                ],
+                'repositories' => [
+                    [
+                        'packagist' => false,
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        'type' => 'artifact',
+                        'url' => $this->tempArtifact,
+                    ]
+                ]
+            ],
+            $this->tempGlobalComposerHome
+        );
+
+        $this->execComposerInDir('global update', $this->tempGlobalComposerHome);
+
+        $this->createArtifact();
+        $this->writeComposerJsonFile(
+            [
+                'name'         => 'package-versions/e2e-local',
+                'require'      => [
+                    'test/package' => '2.0.0'
+                ],
+                'repositories' => [
+                    [
+                        'packagist' => false,
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        'type' => 'artifact',
+                        'url' => $this->tempArtifact,
+                    ]
+                ]
+            ],
+            $this->tempLocalComposerHome
+        );
+
+        $this->execComposerInDir('update', $this->tempLocalComposerHome);
+        $this->assertFileNotExists(
+            $this->tempLocalComposerHome . '/vendor/ocramius/package-versions/src/PackageVersions/Versions.php'
+        );
+    }
+
+    public function testRemovingPluginDoesNotAttemptToGenerateVersions()
+    {
+        $this->createPackageVersionsArtifact();
+        $this->createArtifact();
+
+        $this->writeComposerJsonFile(
+            [
+                'name'         => 'package-versions/e2e-local',
+                'require'      => [
+                    'test/package' => '2.0.0',
+                    'ocramius/package-versions' => '1.0.0'
+                ],
+                'repositories' => [
+                    [
+                        'packagist' => false,
+                    ],
+                    [
+                        'type' => 'artifact',
+                        'url' => $this->tempArtifact,
+                    ]
+                ]
+            ],
+            $this->tempLocalComposerHome
+        );
+
+        $this->execComposerInDir('update', $this->tempLocalComposerHome);
+        $this->assertFileExists(
+            $this->tempLocalComposerHome . '/vendor/ocramius/package-versions/src/PackageVersions/Versions.php'
+        );
+
+        $this->execComposerInDir('remove ocramius/package-versions', $this->tempLocalComposerHome);
+
+        $this->assertFileNotExists(
+            $this->tempLocalComposerHome . '/vendor/ocramius/package-versions/src/PackageVersions/Versions.php'
+        );
+    }
+
+    private function createPackageVersionsArtifact()
+    {
+        $zip = new ZipArchive();
+
+        $zip->open($this->tempArtifact . '/ocramius-package-versions-1.0.0.zip', ZipArchive::CREATE);
+
+        $files = array_filter(
+            iterator_to_array(new RecursiveIteratorIterator(
+                new RecursiveCallbackFilterIterator(
+                    new RecursiveDirectoryIterator(realpath(__DIR__ . '/../../'), RecursiveDirectoryIterator::SKIP_DOTS),
+                    function (SplFileInfo $file, $key, RecursiveDirectoryIterator $iterator) {
+                        return $iterator->getSubPathname()[0]  !== '.' && $iterator->getSubPathname() !== 'vendor';
+                    }
+                ),
+                RecursiveIteratorIterator::LEAVES_ONLY
+            )),
+            function (SplFileInfo $file) {
+                return !$file->isDir();
+            }
+        );
+
+        array_walk(
+            $files,
+            function (SplFileInfo $file) use ($zip) {
+                if ($file->getFilename() === 'composer.json') {
+                    $contents = json_decode(file_get_contents($file->getRealPath()), true);
+                    $contents['version'] = '1.0.0';
+
+                    return $zip->addFromString('composer.json', json_encode($contents));
+                }
+
+                $zip->addFile(
+                    $file->getRealPath(),
+                    substr($file->getRealPath(), strlen(realpath(__DIR__ . '/../../')) + 1)
+                );
+            }
+        );
+
+        $zip->close();
+    }
+
+    private function createArtifact()
+    {
+        $zip = new ZipArchive();
+
+        $zip->open($this->tempArtifact . '/test-package-2.0.0.zip', ZipArchive::CREATE);
+        $zip->addFromString(
+            'composer.json',
+            json_encode(
+                [
+                    'name'    => 'test/package',
+                    'version' => '2.0.0'
+                ],
+                JSON_PRETTY_PRINT
+            )
+        );
+        $zip->close();
+    }
+
+    private function writeComposerJsonFile(array $config, string $directory)
+    {
+        file_put_contents(
+            $directory . '/composer.json',
+            json_encode($config, JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES | JSON_PRETTY_PRINT)
+        );
+    }
+
+    private function execComposerInDir(string $command, string $dir) : array
+    {
+        $currentDir = getcwd();
+        chdir($dir);
+        exec(__DIR__ . '/../../vendor/bin/composer ' . $command . ' 2> /dev/null', $output, $exitCode);
+        $this->assertEquals(0, $exitCode);
+        chdir($currentDir);
+        return $output;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param string $directory
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+    private function rmDir(string $directory)
+    {
+        if (! is_dir($directory)) {
+            unlink($directory);
+
+            return;
+        }
+
+        array_map(
+            function ($item) use ($directory) {
+                $this->rmDir($directory . '/' . $item);
+            },
+            array_filter(
+                scandir($directory),
+                function (string $dirItem) {
+                    return ! in_array($dirItem, ['.', '..'], true);
+                }
+            )
+        );
+
+        rmdir($directory);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/PackageVersionsTest/InstallerTest.php b/test/PackageVersionsTest/InstallerTest.php
index c7cac80..bebd0ab 100644
--- a/test/PackageVersionsTest/InstallerTest.php
+++ b/test/PackageVersionsTest/InstallerTest.php
@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@ public function testDumpVersionsClass()
             ->method('getLockData')
             ->willReturn([
                 'packages' => [
+                    [
+                        'name'    => 'ocramius/package-versions',
+                        'version' => '1.0.0',
+                    ],
                     [
                         'name'    => 'foo/bar',
                         'version' => '1.2.3',
@@ -156,6 +160,7 @@ public function testDumpVersionsClass()
 final class Versions
 {
     const VERSIONS = array (
+  'ocramius/package-versions' => '1.0.0@',
   'foo/bar' => '1.2.3@abc123',
   'baz/tab' => '4.5.6@def456',
   'tar/taz' => '7.8.9@ghi789',
@@ -208,6 +213,10 @@ public function testDumpVersionsClassNoDev()
             ->method('getLockData')
             ->willReturn([
                 'packages' => [
+                    [
+                        'name'    => 'ocramius/package-versions',
+                        'version' => '1.0.0',
+                    ],
                     [
                         'name'    => 'foo/bar',
                         'version' => '1.2.3',
@@ -259,6 +268,7 @@ public function testDumpVersionsClassNoDev()
 final class Versions
 {
     const VERSIONS = array (
+  'ocramius/package-versions' => '1.0.0@',
   'foo/bar' => '1.2.3@abc123',
   'baz/tab' => '4.5.6@def456',
   'root/package' => '1.3.5@aaabbbcccddd',
@@ -315,6 +325,10 @@ public function testDumpVersionsWithoutPackageSourceDetails()
             ->method('getLockData')
             ->willReturn([
                 'packages' => [
+                    [
+                        'name'    => 'ocramius/package-versions',
+                        'version' => '1.0.0',
+                    ],
                     [
                         'name'    => 'foo/bar',
                         'version' => '1.2.3',
@@ -363,6 +377,7 @@ public function testDumpVersionsWithoutPackageSourceDetails()
 final class Versions
 {
     const VERSIONS = array (
+  'ocramius/package-versions' => '1.0.0@',
   'foo/bar' => '1.2.3@abc123',
   'baz/tab' => '4.5.6@',
   'root/package' => '1.3.5@aaabbbcccddd',
@@ -424,7 +439,12 @@ public function testDumpsVersionsClassToSpecificLocation(RootPackageInterface $r
             ->expects(self::any())
             ->method('getLockData')
             ->willReturn([
-                'packages' => [],
+                'packages' => [
+                    [
+                        'name'    => 'ocramius/package-versions',
+                        'version' => '1.0.0',
+                    ]
+                ],
                 'packages-dev' => [],
             ]);
 
@@ -497,6 +517,65 @@ public function rootPackageProvider() : array
         ];
     }
 
+    public function testVersionsAreNotDumpedIfPackageVersionsNotExplicitlyRequired()
+    {
+        $config            = $this->getMockBuilder(Config::class)->disableOriginalConstructor()->getMock();
+        $locker            = $this->getMockBuilder(Locker::class)->disableOriginalConstructor()->getMock();
+        $repositoryManager = $this->getMockBuilder(RepositoryManager::class)->disableOriginalConstructor()->getMock();
+        $installManager    = $this->getMockBuilder(InstallationManager::class)->disableOriginalConstructor()->getMock();
+        $repository        = $this->createMock(InstalledRepositoryInterface::class);
+        $package           = $this->createMock(RootPackageInterface::class);
+
+        $vendorDir = sys_get_temp_dir() . '/' . uniqid('InstallerTest', true);
+
+        $expectedPath = $vendorDir . '/ocramius/package-versions/src/PackageVersions';
+
+        mkdir($expectedPath, 0777, true);
+
+        $locker
+            ->expects(self::any())
+            ->method('getLockData')
+            ->willReturn([
+                 'packages' => [
+                     [
+                         'name'    => 'foo/bar',
+                         'version' => '1.2.3',
+                         'dist'  => [
+                             'reference' => 'abc123', // version defined in the dist, this time
+                         ],
+                     ],
+                     [
+                         'name'    => 'baz/tab',
+                         'version' => '4.5.6', // source missing
+                     ],
+                 ],
+             ]);
+
+        $repositoryManager->expects(self::any())->method('getLocalRepository')->willReturn($repository);
+
+        $this->composer->expects(self::any())->method('getConfig')->willReturn($config);
+        $this->composer->expects(self::any())->method('getLocker')->willReturn($locker);
+        $this->composer->expects(self::any())->method('getRepositoryManager')->willReturn($repositoryManager);
+        $this->composer->expects(self::any())->method('getPackage')->willReturn($package);
+        $this->composer->expects(self::any())->method('getInstallationManager')->willReturn($installManager);
+
+        $package->expects(self::any())->method('getName')->willReturn('root/package');
+        $package->expects(self::any())->method('getVersion')->willReturn('1.3.5');
+        $package->expects(self::any())->method('getSourceReference')->willReturn('aaabbbcccddd');
+
+        $config->expects(self::any())->method('get')->with('vendor-dir')->willReturn($vendorDir);
+
+        Installer::dumpVersionsClass(new Event(
+            'post-install-cmd',
+            $this->composer,
+            $this->io
+        ));
+
+        self::assertFileNotExists($expectedPath . '/Versions.php');
+
+        $this->rmDir($vendorDir);
+    }
+
     /**
      * @param string $directory
      *