diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwworld/livecellref.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwworld/livecellref.cpp
index d71704fd7..c15f63abe 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwworld/livecellref.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwworld/livecellref.cpp
@@ -10,16 +10,24 @@ void MWWorld::LiveCellRefBase::loadImp (const ESM::ObjectState& state)
 {
     mRef = state.mRef;
     mData = RefData (state);
+
     Ptr ptr (this);
+
+    if (state.mHasLocals)
+        mData.setLocals (state.mLocals, mClass->getScript (ptr));
+
     mClass->readAdditionalState (ptr, state);
 }
 
 void MWWorld::LiveCellRefBase::saveImp (ESM::ObjectState& state) const
 {
     state.mRef = mRef;
-    mData.write (state);
+
     /// \todo get rid of this cast once const-correct Ptr are available
     Ptr ptr (const_cast<LiveCellRefBase *> (this));
+
+    mData.write (state, mClass->getScript (ptr));
+
     mClass->writeAdditionalState (ptr, state);
 }
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwworld/refdata.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwworld/refdata.cpp
index 8d48078b1..907204739 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwworld/refdata.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwworld/refdata.cpp
@@ -76,9 +76,13 @@ namespace MWWorld
         }
     }
 
-    void RefData::write (ESM::ObjectState& objectState) const
+    void RefData::write (ESM::ObjectState& objectState, const std::string& scriptId) const
     {
-        objectState.mHasLocals = false;
+        objectState.mHasLocals = mHasLocals;
+
+        if (mHasLocals)
+            mLocals.write (objectState.mLocals, scriptId);
+
         objectState.mEnabled = mEnabled;
         objectState.mCount = mCount;
         objectState.mPosition = mPosition;
@@ -148,6 +152,12 @@ namespace MWWorld
         }
     }
 
+    void RefData::setLocals (const ESM::Locals& locals, const std::string& scriptId)
+    {
+        mHasLocals = true;
+        mLocals.read (locals, scriptId);
+    }
+
     void RefData::setCount (int count)
     {
         if(count == 0)
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwworld/refdata.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwworld/refdata.hpp
index 19e3d4882..a74eb838c 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwworld/refdata.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwworld/refdata.hpp
@@ -64,9 +64,9 @@ namespace MWWorld
 
             ~RefData();
 
-            void write (ESM::ObjectState& objectState) const;
-            ///< Ignores local variables and custom data (not enough context available here to
-            /// perform these operations).
+            void write (ESM::ObjectState& objectState, const std::string& scriptId = "") const;
+            ///< Ignores custom data (not enough context available here to
+            /// perform this operations).
 
             RefData& operator= (const RefData& refData);
 
@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@ namespace MWWorld
 
             void setLocals (const ESM::Script& script);
 
+            void setLocals (const ESM::Locals& locals, const std::string& scriptId);
+
             void setCount (int count);
             /// Set object count (an object pile is a simple object with a count >1).
             ///