diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/render/mask.hpp b/apps/opencs/view/render/mask.hpp
index 55b7c823f..deeab4996 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/view/render/mask.hpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/render/mask.hpp
@@ -10,9 +10,6 @@ namespace CSVRender
     /// @copydoc MWRender::VisMask
     enum Mask
     {
-        // internal use within NifLoader, do not change
-        Mask_UpdateVisitor = 0x1,
-
         // elements that are part of the actual scene
         Mask_Reference = 0x2,
         Mask_Pathgrid = 0x4,
diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/render/scenewidget.cpp b/apps/opencs/view/render/scenewidget.cpp
index ed232722d..e50d7b2cd 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/view/render/scenewidget.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/render/scenewidget.cpp
@@ -88,8 +88,6 @@ RenderWidget::RenderWidget(QWidget *parent, Qt::WindowFlags f)
     // Add ability to signal osg to show its statistics for debugging purposes
     mView->addEventHandler(new osgViewer::StatsHandler);
 
-    mView->getCamera()->setCullMask(~(Mask_UpdateVisitor));
-
     viewer.addView(mView);
     viewer.setDone(false);
     viewer.realize();
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/renderingmanager.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/renderingmanager.cpp
index f5053cca9..31af55a44 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/renderingmanager.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/renderingmanager.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 
 #include <osgViewer/Viewer>
 
+#include <components/nifosg/nifloader.hpp>
+
 #include <components/debug/debuglog.hpp>
 
 #include <components/misc/stringops.hpp>
@@ -373,6 +375,7 @@ namespace MWRender
         mViewer->getCamera()->setCullingMode(cullingMode);
 
         mViewer->getCamera()->setCullMask(~(Mask_UpdateVisitor|Mask_SimpleWater));
+        NifOsg::Loader::setHiddenNodeMask(Mask_UpdateVisitor);
 
         mNearClip = Settings::Manager::getFloat("near clip", "Camera");
         mViewDistance = Settings::Manager::getFloat("viewing distance", "Camera");
diff --git a/components/nifosg/controller.cpp b/components/nifosg/controller.cpp
index 1842e0017..100aa234a 100644
--- a/components/nifosg/controller.cpp
+++ b/components/nifosg/controller.cpp
@@ -269,12 +269,14 @@ void UVController::apply(osg::StateSet* stateset, osg::NodeVisitor* nv)
     }
 }
 
-VisController::VisController(const Nif::NiVisData *data)
+VisController::VisController(const Nif::NiVisData *data, unsigned int mask)
     : mData(data->mVis)
+    , mMask(mask)
 {
 }
 
 VisController::VisController()
+    : mMask(0)
 {
 }
 
@@ -282,6 +284,7 @@ VisController::VisController(const VisController &copy, const osg::CopyOp &copyo
     : osg::NodeCallback(copy, copyop)
     , Controller(copy)
     , mData(copy.mData)
+    , mMask(copy.mMask)
 {
 }
 
@@ -303,8 +306,7 @@ void VisController::operator() (osg::Node* node, osg::NodeVisitor* nv)
     if (hasInput())
     {
         bool vis = calculate(getInputValue(nv));
-        // Leave 0x1 enabled for UpdateVisitor, so we can make ourselves visible again in the future from this update callback
-        node->setNodeMask(vis ? ~0 : 0x1);
+        node->setNodeMask(vis ? ~0 : mMask);
     }
     traverse(node, nv);
 }
diff --git a/components/nifosg/controller.hpp b/components/nifosg/controller.hpp
index c9bda2e62..ad6ee4d87 100644
--- a/components/nifosg/controller.hpp
+++ b/components/nifosg/controller.hpp
@@ -234,11 +234,12 @@ namespace NifOsg
     {
     private:
         std::vector<Nif::NiVisData::VisData> mData;
+        unsigned int mMask;
 
         bool calculate(float time) const;
 
     public:
-        VisController(const Nif::NiVisData *data);
+        VisController(const Nif::NiVisData *data, unsigned int mask);
         VisController();
         VisController(const VisController& copy, const osg::CopyOp& copyop);
 
diff --git a/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp b/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp
index af8431da7..7d62d1ef1 100644
--- a/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp
+++ b/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp
@@ -193,6 +193,17 @@ namespace NifOsg
         return sShowMarkers;
     }
 
+    unsigned int Loader::sHiddenNodeMask = 0;
+
+    void Loader::setHiddenNodeMask(unsigned int mask)
+    {
+        sHiddenNodeMask = mask;
+    }
+    unsigned int Loader::getHiddenNodeMask()
+    {
+        return sHiddenNodeMask;
+    }
+
     class LoaderImpl
     {
     public:
@@ -571,8 +582,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
             if (nifNode->recType == Nif::RC_RootCollisionNode)
             {
                 skipMeshes = true;
-                // Leave mask for UpdateVisitor enabled
-                node->setNodeMask(0x1);
+                node->setNodeMask(Loader::getHiddenNodeMask());
             }
 
             // We can skip creating meshes for hidden nodes if they don't have a VisController that
@@ -586,8 +596,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                 if (!hasVisController)
                     skipMeshes = true; // skip child meshes, but still create the child node hierarchy for animating collision shapes
 
-                // now hide this node, but leave the mask for UpdateVisitor enabled so that KeyframeController works
-                node->setNodeMask(0x1);
+                node->setNodeMask(Loader::getHiddenNodeMask());
             }
 
             if ((skipMeshes || hasMarkers) && isAnimated) // make sure the empty node is not optimized away so the physicssystem can find it.
@@ -753,7 +762,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
         {
             if (visctrl->data.empty())
                 return;
-            osg::ref_ptr<VisController> callback(new VisController(visctrl->data.getPtr()));
+            osg::ref_ptr<VisController> callback(new VisController(visctrl->data.getPtr(), Loader::getHiddenNodeMask()));
             setupController(visctrl, callback, animflags);
             node->addUpdateCallback(callback);
         }
diff --git a/components/nifosg/nifloader.hpp b/components/nifosg/nifloader.hpp
index d2d5e7b2d..6168bb474 100644
--- a/components/nifosg/nifloader.hpp
+++ b/components/nifosg/nifloader.hpp
@@ -74,8 +74,13 @@ namespace NifOsg
 
         static bool getShowMarkers();
 
-    private:
+        /// Set the mask to use for hidden nodes. The default is 0, i.e. updates to those nodes can no longer happen.
+        /// If you need to run animations or physics for hidden nodes, you may want to set this to a non-zero mask and remove exactly that mask from the camera's cull mask.
+        static void setHiddenNodeMask(unsigned int mask);
+        static unsigned int getHiddenNodeMask();
 
+    private:
+        static unsigned int sHiddenNodeMask;
         static bool sShowMarkers;
     };