diff --git a/dlls/advapi32/registry.c b/dlls/advapi32/registry.c
index c3cb3cfd379..5ee66d722b2 100644
--- a/dlls/advapi32/registry.c
+++ b/dlls/advapi32/registry.c
@@ -1588,42 +1588,28 @@ DWORD WINAPI RegDeleteValueA( HKEY hkey, LPCSTR name )
  */
 LONG WINAPI RegLoadKeyW( HKEY hkey, LPCWSTR subkey, LPCWSTR filename )
 {
-    HANDLE file;
-    DWORD ret, len, err = GetLastError();
-    HKEY shkey;
+    OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES destkey, file;
+    UNICODE_STRING subkeyW, filenameW;
 
-    TRACE( "(%p,%s,%s)\n", hkey, debugstr_w(subkey), debugstr_w(filename) );
+    if (!(hkey = get_special_root_hkey(hkey))) return ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE;
 
-    if (!filename || !*filename) return ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER;
-    if (!subkey || !*subkey) return ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER;
-    if (!(hkey = get_special_root_hkey( hkey ))) return ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE;
+    destkey.Length = sizeof(destkey);
+    destkey.RootDirectory = hkey;               /* root key: HKLM or HKU */
+    destkey.ObjectName = &subkeyW;              /* name of the key */
+    destkey.Attributes = 0;
+    destkey.SecurityDescriptor = NULL;
+    destkey.SecurityQualityOfService = NULL;
+    RtlInitUnicodeString(&subkeyW, subkey);
 
-    len = strlenW( subkey ) * sizeof(WCHAR);
-    if (len > MAX_PATH*sizeof(WCHAR)) return ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER;
+    file.Length = sizeof(file);
+    file.RootDirectory = NULL;
+    file.ObjectName = &filenameW;               /* file containing the hive */
+    file.Attributes = OBJ_CASE_INSENSITIVE;
+    file.SecurityDescriptor = NULL;
+    file.SecurityQualityOfService = NULL;
+    RtlDosPathNameToNtPathName_U(filename, &filenameW, NULL, NULL);
 
-    if ((file = CreateFileW( filename, GENERIC_READ, 0, NULL, OPEN_EXISTING,
-                             FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, 0 )) == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
-    {
-        ret = GetLastError();
-        goto done;
-    }
-
-    RegCreateKeyW(hkey,subkey,&shkey);
-
-    SERVER_START_REQ( load_registry )
-    {
-        req->hkey  = shkey;
-        req->file  = file;
-        wine_server_add_data( req, subkey, len );
-        ret = RtlNtStatusToDosError( wine_server_call(req) );
-    }
-    SERVER_END_REQ;
-    CloseHandle( file );
-    RegCloseKey(shkey);
-
- done:
-    SetLastError( err );  /* restore the last error code */
-    return ret;
+    return RtlNtStatusToDosError( NtLoadKey(&destkey, &file) );
 }
 
 
@@ -1634,43 +1620,20 @@ LONG WINAPI RegLoadKeyW( HKEY hkey, LPCWSTR subkey, LPCWSTR filename )
  */
 LONG WINAPI RegLoadKeyA( HKEY hkey, LPCSTR subkey, LPCSTR filename )
 {
-    WCHAR buffer[MAX_PATH];
-    HANDLE file;
-    DWORD ret, len, err = GetLastError();
-    HKEY shkey;
+    UNICODE_STRING subkeyW, filenameW;
+    STRING subkeyA, filenameA;
+    NTSTATUS status;
 
-    TRACE( "(%p,%s,%s)\n", hkey, debugstr_a(subkey), debugstr_a(filename) );
+    RtlInitAnsiString(&subkeyA, subkey);
+    RtlInitAnsiString(&filenameA, filename);
 
-    if (!filename || !*filename) return ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER;
-    if (!subkey || !*subkey) return ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER;
-    if (!(hkey = get_special_root_hkey( hkey ))) return ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE;
+    if ((status = RtlAnsiStringToUnicodeString(&subkeyW, &subkeyA, TRUE)))
+        return RtlNtStatusToDosError(status);
 
-    if (!(len = MultiByteToWideChar( CP_ACP, 0, subkey, strlen(subkey), buffer, MAX_PATH )))
-        return ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER;
+    if ((status = RtlAnsiStringToUnicodeString(&filenameW, &filenameA, TRUE)))
+        return RtlNtStatusToDosError(status);
 
-    if ((file = CreateFileA( filename, GENERIC_READ, 0, NULL, OPEN_EXISTING,
-                             FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, 0 )) == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
-    {
-        ret = GetLastError();
-        goto done;
-    }
-
-    RegCreateKeyA(hkey,subkey,&shkey);
-
-    SERVER_START_REQ( load_registry )
-    {
-        req->hkey  = shkey;
-        req->file  = file;
-        wine_server_add_data( req, buffer, len * sizeof(WCHAR) );
-        ret = RtlNtStatusToDosError( wine_server_call(req) );
-    }
-    SERVER_END_REQ;
-    CloseHandle( file );
-    RegCloseKey(shkey);
-
- done:
-    SetLastError( err );  /* restore the last error code */
-    return ret;
+    return RegLoadKeyW(hkey, subkeyW.Buffer, filenameW.Buffer);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/dlls/ntdll/reg.c b/dlls/ntdll/reg.c
index 42287ee7949..283044b5f6b 100644
--- a/dlls/ntdll/reg.c
+++ b/dlls/ntdll/reg.c
@@ -558,12 +558,30 @@ NTSTATUS WINAPI NtFlushKey(HKEY key)
  *  NtLoadKey	[NTDLL.@]
  *  ZwLoadKey   [NTDLL.@]
  */
-NTSTATUS WINAPI NtLoadKey( const OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES *attr, const OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES *file )
+NTSTATUS WINAPI NtLoadKey( const OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES *attr, OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES *file )
 {
-    FIXME("stub!\n");
-    dump_ObjectAttributes(attr);
-    dump_ObjectAttributes(file);
-    return STATUS_SUCCESS;
+    NTSTATUS ret;
+    HANDLE hive;
+    IO_STATUS_BLOCK io;
+
+    TRACE("(%p,%p)\n", attr, file);
+
+    ret = NtCreateFile(&hive, GENERIC_READ, file, &io, NULL, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, 0,
+                       OPEN_EXISTING, 0, NULL, 0);
+    if (ret) return ret;
+
+    SERVER_START_REQ( load_registry )
+    {
+        req->hkey = attr->RootDirectory;
+        req->file = hive;
+        wine_server_add_data(req, attr->ObjectName->Buffer, attr->ObjectName->Length);
+        ret = wine_server_call( req );
+    }
+    SERVER_END_REQ;
+
+    NtClose(hive);
+   
+    return ret;
 }
 
 /******************************************************************************
diff --git a/include/winternl.h b/include/winternl.h
index 320b1ab32ec..9deca751e45 100644
--- a/include/winternl.h
+++ b/include/winternl.h
@@ -1449,7 +1449,7 @@ NTSTATUS  WINAPI NtImpersonateAnonymousToken(HANDLE);
 NTSTATUS  WINAPI NtImpersonateClientOfPort(HANDLE,PPORT_MESSAGE);
 NTSTATUS  WINAPI NtImpersonateThread(HANDLE,HANDLE,PSECURITY_QUALITY_OF_SERVICE);
 NTSTATUS  WINAPI NtLoadDriver(const UNICODE_STRING *);
-NTSTATUS  WINAPI NtLoadKey(const OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES *,const OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES *);
+NTSTATUS  WINAPI NtLoadKey(const OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES *,OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES *);
 NTSTATUS  WINAPI NtLockFile(HANDLE,HANDLE,PIO_APC_ROUTINE,void*,PIO_STATUS_BLOCK,PLARGE_INTEGER,PLARGE_INTEGER,ULONG*,BOOLEAN,BOOLEAN);
 NTSTATUS  WINAPI NtLockVirtualMemory(HANDLE,PVOID*,ULONG*,ULONG);
 NTSTATUS  WINAPI NtMapViewOfSection(HANDLE,HANDLE,PVOID*,ULONG,ULONG,const LARGE_INTEGER*,ULONG*,SECTION_INHERIT,ULONG,ULONG);
diff --git a/server/registry.c b/server/registry.c
index 5b7474eafc6..370a6f02624 100644
--- a/server/registry.c
+++ b/server/registry.c
@@ -1834,13 +1834,18 @@ DECL_HANDLER(delete_key_value)
 /* load a registry branch from a file */
 DECL_HANDLER(load_registry)
 {
-    struct key *key;
+    struct key *key, *parent;
 
-    if ((key = get_hkey_obj( req->hkey, KEY_SET_VALUE | KEY_CREATE_SUB_KEY )))
+    if ((parent = get_hkey_obj( req->hkey, KEY_SET_VALUE | KEY_CREATE_SUB_KEY )))
     {
-        /* FIXME: use subkey name */
-        load_registry( key, req->file );
-        release_object( key );
+        int dummy;
+        WCHAR *name = copy_path( get_req_data(), get_req_data_size(), !req->hkey );
+        if (name && (key = create_key( parent, name, NULL, KEY_DIRTY, time(NULL), &dummy )))
+        {
+            load_registry( key, req->file );
+            release_object( key );
+        }
+        release_object( parent );
     }
 }