diff --git a/apps/openmw/engine.cpp b/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
index 3c2423345..2a5ab3f07 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
@@ -309,12 +309,16 @@ std::string OMW::Engine::loadSettings (Settings::Manager & settings)
 
     // load nif overrides
     NifOverrides::Overrides nifOverrides;
-    if (boost::filesystem::exists(mCfgMgr.getLocalPath().string() + "/transparency-overrides.cfg"))
-        nifOverrides.loadTransparencyOverrides(mCfgMgr.getLocalPath().string() + "/transparency-overrides.cfg");
-    else if (boost::filesystem::exists(mCfgMgr.getGlobalPath().string() + "/transparency-overrides.cfg"))
-        nifOverrides.loadTransparencyOverrides(mCfgMgr.getGlobalPath().string() + "/transparency-overrides.cfg");
-
-    settings.setBool("hardware cursors", "GUI", true);
+    std::string transparencyOverrides = "/transparency-overrides.cfg";
+    std::string materialOverrides = "/material-overrides.cfg";
+    if (boost::filesystem::exists(mCfgMgr.getLocalPath().string() + transparencyOverrides))
+        nifOverrides.loadTransparencyOverrides(mCfgMgr.getLocalPath().string() + transparencyOverrides);
+    else if (boost::filesystem::exists(mCfgMgr.getGlobalPath().string() + transparencyOverrides))
+        nifOverrides.loadTransparencyOverrides(mCfgMgr.getGlobalPath().string() + transparencyOverrides);
+    if (boost::filesystem::exists(mCfgMgr.getLocalPath().string() + materialOverrides))
+        nifOverrides.loadMaterialOverrides(mCfgMgr.getLocalPath().string() + materialOverrides);
+    else if (boost::filesystem::exists(mCfgMgr.getGlobalPath().string() + materialOverrides))
+        nifOverrides.loadMaterialOverrides(mCfgMgr.getGlobalPath().string() + materialOverrides);
 
     return settingspath;
 }
diff --git a/components/nifogre/material.cpp b/components/nifogre/material.cpp
index 8ae86b64a..be6ccbed6 100644
--- a/components/nifogre/material.cpp
+++ b/components/nifogre/material.cpp
@@ -157,7 +157,6 @@ Ogre::String NIFMaterialLoader::getMaterial(const Nif::ShapeData *shapedata,
             ctrls = ctrls->next;
         }
     }
-    needTangents = !texName[Nif::NiTexturingProperty::BumpTexture].empty();
 
     // Alpha modifiers
     if(alphaprop)
@@ -407,6 +406,12 @@ Ogre::String NIFMaterialLoader::getMaterial(const Nif::ShapeData *shapedata,
     instance->setProperty("depth_write", sh::makeProperty(new sh::StringValue(((depthFlags>>1)&1) ? "on" : "off")));
     // depth_func???
 
+    if (!texName[0].empty())
+        NifOverrides::Overrides::getMaterialOverrides(texName[0], instance);
+
+    // Don't use texName, as it may be overridden
+    needTangents = !sh::retrieveValue<sh::StringValue>(instance->getProperty("normalMap"), instance).get().empty();
+
     return name;
 }
 
diff --git a/components/nifoverrides/nifoverrides.cpp b/components/nifoverrides/nifoverrides.cpp
index 191b4ac2f..972cf1b84 100644
--- a/components/nifoverrides/nifoverrides.cpp
+++ b/components/nifoverrides/nifoverrides.cpp
@@ -4,14 +4,51 @@
 
 #include <../components/misc/stringops.hpp>
 
+#include "../extern/shiny/Main/MaterialInstance.hpp"
+
+#include <stdexcept>
+
 
 using namespace NifOverrides;
 
-Ogre::ConfigFile Overrides::mTransparencyOverrides = Ogre::ConfigFile();
+Overrides::TransparencyOverrideMap Overrides::mTransparencyOverrides = Overrides::TransparencyOverrideMap();
+Overrides::MaterialOverrideMap Overrides::mMaterialOverrides = Overrides::MaterialOverrideMap();
 
 void Overrides::loadTransparencyOverrides (const std::string& file)
 {
-    mTransparencyOverrides.load(file);
+    Ogre::ConfigFile cf;
+    cf.load(file);
+
+    Ogre::ConfigFile::SectionIterator seci = cf.getSectionIterator();
+    while (seci.hasMoreElements())
+    {
+        Ogre::String sectionName = seci.peekNextKey();
+        mTransparencyOverrides[sectionName] =
+                Ogre::StringConverter::parseInt(cf.getSetting("alphaRejectValue", sectionName));
+        seci.getNext();
+    }
+}
+
+void Overrides::loadMaterialOverrides(const std::string &file)
+{
+    Ogre::ConfigFile cf;
+    cf.load(file);
+
+    Ogre::ConfigFile::SectionIterator seci = cf.getSectionIterator();
+    while (seci.hasMoreElements())
+    {
+        Ogre::String sectionName = seci.peekNextKey();
+
+        Ogre::ConfigFile::SettingsMultiMap *settings = seci.getNext();
+        Ogre::ConfigFile::SettingsMultiMap::iterator i;
+        std::map<std::string, std::string> overrides;
+        for (i = settings->begin(); i != settings->end(); ++i)
+        {
+            overrides[i->first] = i->second;
+        }
+        mMaterialOverrides[sectionName] = overrides;
+    }
+
 }
 
 TransparencyResult Overrides::getTransparencyOverride(const std::string& texture)
@@ -19,20 +56,25 @@ TransparencyResult Overrides::getTransparencyOverride(const std::string& texture
     TransparencyResult result;
     result.first = false;
 
-    std::string tex = texture;
-    Misc::StringUtils::toLower(tex);
+    TransparencyOverrideMap::iterator it = mTransparencyOverrides.find(Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(texture));
+    if (it != mTransparencyOverrides.end())
+    {
+        result.first = true;
+        result.second = it->second;
+    }
 
-    Ogre::ConfigFile::SectionIterator seci = mTransparencyOverrides.getSectionIterator();
-    while (seci.hasMoreElements())
+    return result;
+}
+
+void Overrides::getMaterialOverrides(const std::string &texture, sh::MaterialInstance* material)
+{
+    MaterialOverrideMap::iterator it = mMaterialOverrides.find(Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(texture));
+    if (it != mMaterialOverrides.end())
     {
-        Ogre::String sectionName = seci.peekNextKey();
-        if (sectionName == tex)
+        const std::map<std::string, std::string>& overrides = it->second;
+        for (std::map<std::string, std::string>::const_iterator it = overrides.begin(); it != overrides.end(); ++it)
         {
-            result.first = true;
-            result.second = Ogre::StringConverter::parseInt(mTransparencyOverrides.getSetting("alphaRejectValue", sectionName));
-            break;
+            material->setProperty(it->first, sh::makeProperty(it->second));
         }
-        seci.getNext();
     }
-    return result;
 }
diff --git a/components/nifoverrides/nifoverrides.hpp b/components/nifoverrides/nifoverrides.hpp
index ba2e4cc3c..edff876d4 100644
--- a/components/nifoverrides/nifoverrides.hpp
+++ b/components/nifoverrides/nifoverrides.hpp
@@ -3,19 +3,34 @@
 
 #include <OgreConfigFile.h>
 
+namespace sh
+{
+    class MaterialInstance;
+}
+
 namespace NifOverrides
 {
 
     typedef std::pair<bool, int> TransparencyResult;
 
-    /// \brief provide overrides for some model / texture properties that bethesda has chosen poorly
+    /// Allows to provide overrides for some material properties in NIF files.
+    /// NIFs are a bit limited in that they don't allow specifying a material externally, which is
+    /// painful for texture modding.
+    /// We also use this to patch up transparency settings in certain NIFs that bethesda has chosen poorly.
     class Overrides
     {
     public:
-        static Ogre::ConfigFile mTransparencyOverrides;
+        typedef std::map<std::string, int> TransparencyOverrideMap;
+        static TransparencyOverrideMap mTransparencyOverrides;
+
+        typedef std::map<std::string, std::map<std::string, std::string> > MaterialOverrideMap;
+        static MaterialOverrideMap mMaterialOverrides;
+
         void loadTransparencyOverrides (const std::string& file);
+        void loadMaterialOverrides (const std::string& file);
 
         static TransparencyResult getTransparencyOverride(const std::string& texture);
+        static void getMaterialOverrides (const std::string& texture, sh::MaterialInstance* instance);
     };
 
 }