diff --git a/plotly/offline/__init__.py b/plotly/offline/__init__.py
index f4a5fc2d2b6..085e8c7e7c4 100644
--- a/plotly/offline/__init__.py
+++ b/plotly/offline/__init__.py
@@ -10,5 +10,6 @@
     iplot,
     iplot_mpl,
     plot,
-    plot_mpl
+    plot_mpl,
+    serve_plotlyjs_from_directory
 )
diff --git a/plotly/offline/offline.py b/plotly/offline/offline.py
index 7a6df8eed40..11845d2acc6 100644
--- a/plotly/offline/offline.py
+++ b/plotly/offline/offline.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 import json
 import os
+import shutil
 import uuid
 import warnings
 from pkg_resources import resource_string
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@
     _matplotlib_imported = False
 
 __PLOTLY_OFFLINE_INITIALIZED = False
+__SERVE_PLOTLYJS_FROM_DIRECTORY = False
 
 
 def download_plotlyjs(download_url):
@@ -42,11 +44,28 @@ def download_plotlyjs(download_url):
 
 
 def get_plotlyjs():
-    path = os.path.join('offline', 'plotly.min.js')
-    plotlyjs = resource_string('plotly', path).decode('utf-8')
+    global __SERVE_PLOTLYJS_FROM_DIRECTORY
+    if __SERVE_PLOTLYJS_FROM_DIRECTORY:
+        plotlyjs = '</script><script src="plotly.min.js">'
+    else:
+        path = os.path.join('offline', 'plotly.min.js')
+        plotlyjs = resource_string('plotly', path).decode('utf-8')
     return plotlyjs
 
 
+def serve_plotlyjs_from_directory():
+    """
+    Sets global plotly.offline.__SERVE_PLOTLYJS_FROM_DIRECTORY to True,
+    which will trigger the separation of the html and the plotly.min.js
+    into two files. This will reduce the overall space required
+    if muliple plots are created in the same directory, since only one
+    copy of plotly.min.js will be stored.
+    """
+    global __SERVE_PLOTLYJS_FROM_DIRECTORY
+    __SERVE_PLOTLYJS_FROM_DIRECTORY = True
+    return
+
+
 def init_notebook_mode(connected=False):
     """
     Initialize plotly.js in the browser if it hasn't been loaded into the DOM
@@ -242,7 +261,8 @@ def plot(figure_or_data,
          validate=True, output_type='file',
          include_plotlyjs=True,
          filename='temp-plot.html',
-         auto_open=True):
+         auto_open=True,
+         ):
     """ Create a plotly graph locally as an HTML document or string.
 
     Example:
@@ -315,6 +335,18 @@ def plot(figure_or_data,
         ).format(id=plotdivid)
 
     if output_type == 'file':
+        src_path = os.path.join(
+            os.path.dirname(__file__), 'plotly.min.js'
+        )
+        # src_path = resource_string('plotly', path)
+        global __SERVE_PLOTLYJS_FROM_DIRECTORY
+        if __SERVE_PLOTLYJS_FROM_DIRECTORY:
+            dest_path = os.path.join(
+                os.path.dirname( filename ), 'plotly.min.js'
+            )
+            if os.path.exists( dest_path ) is False:
+                shutil.copy( src_path, dest_path )
+
         with open(filename, 'w') as f:
             if include_plotlyjs:
                 plotly_js_script = ''.join([