diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 60ddcb4d..f9368dac 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ The WordPress Coding Standards are currently [not compatible with the upcoming P
 
 ### Composer
 
-Standards can be installed with [Composer](https://getcomposer.org/) dependency manager:
+Standards can be installed with the [Composer](https://getcomposer.org/) dependency manager:
 
     composer create-project wp-coding-standards/wpcs --no-dev
 
@@ -60,6 +60,16 @@ Running this command will:
 
 For the convenience of using `phpcs` as a global command, you may want to add the `wpcs/vendor/bin` path to a PATH environment in your operating system.
 
+#### Installing WPCS as a dependency
+
+When installing the WordPress Coding Standards as a dependency in a larger project, the above mentioned step 3 will not be executed automatically.
+
+There are two actively maintained Composer plugins which can handle the registration of standards with PHP_CodeSniffer for you:
+* [composer-phpcodesniffer-standards-plugin](https://github.com/higidi/composer-phpcodesniffer-standards-plugin)
+* [phpcodesniffer-composer-installer](https://github.com/DealerDirect/phpcodesniffer-composer-installer)
+
+It is strongly suggested to `require` one of these plugins in your project to handle the registration of external standards with PHPCS for you.
+
 ### Standalone
 
 1. Install PHP_CodeSniffer by following its [installation instructions](https://github.com/squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer#installation) (via Composer, PEAR, or Git checkout).
diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 121cdd21..a26ee8b5 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -13,12 +13,16 @@
 	"require"    : {
 		"squizlabs/php_codesniffer": "^2.9.0"
 	},
+	"suggest" : {
+		"dealerdirect/phpcodesniffer-composer-installer": "*"
+	},
 	"minimum-stability" : "RC",
 	"support"    : {
 		"issues": "https://github.com/WordPress-Coding-Standards/WordPress-Coding-Standards/issues",
 		"wiki"  : "https://github.com/WordPress-Coding-Standards/WordPress-Coding-Standards/wiki",
 		"source": "https://github.com/WordPress-Coding-Standards/WordPress-Coding-Standards"
 	},
+	"type"       : "phpcodesniffer-standard",
 	"scripts"    : {
 		"post-install-cmd": "\"vendor/bin/phpcs\" --config-set installed_paths ../../..",
 		"post-update-cmd" : "\"vendor/bin/phpcs\" --config-set installed_paths ../../.."