diff --git a/components/resource/animblendrulesmanager.cpp b/components/resource/animblendrulesmanager.cpp
index 7bfea70974..7f46079ea5 100644
--- a/components/resource/animblendrulesmanager.cpp
+++ b/components/resource/animblendrulesmanager.cpp
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ namespace Resource
 
     osg::ref_ptr<const AnimBlendRules> AnimBlendRulesManager::loadRules(std::string_view path)
     {
-        const VFS::Path::Normalized normalizedPath = VFS::Path::Normalized(path);
+        const VFS::Path::Normalized normalizedPath(path);
         std::optional<osg::ref_ptr<osg::Object>> obj = mCache->getRefFromObjectCacheOrNone(normalizedPath);
         if (obj.has_value())
         {
@@ -67,15 +67,7 @@ namespace Resource
         else
         {
             osg::ref_ptr<AnimBlendRules> blendRules = AnimBlendRules::fromFile(mVfs, normalizedPath);
-            if (blendRules == nullptr)
-            {
-                // No blend rules were found in VFS, cache a nullptr.
-                osg::ref_ptr<AnimBlendRules> nullRules = nullptr;
-                mCache->addEntryToObjectCache(normalizedPath, nullRules);
-                // To avoid confusion - never return blend rules with 0 rules
-                return nullRules;
-            }
-            else
+            if (blendRules)
             {
                 // Blend rules were found in VFS, cache them.
                 mCache->addEntryToObjectCache(normalizedPath, blendRules);
@@ -83,7 +75,10 @@ namespace Resource
             }
         }
 
-        return nullptr;
+        // No blend rules were found in VFS, cache a nullptr.
+        osg::ref_ptr<AnimBlendRules> nullRules = nullptr;
+        mCache->addEntryToObjectCache(normalizedPath, nullRules);
+        return nullRules;
     }
 
     void AnimBlendRulesManager::reportStats(unsigned int frameNumber, osg::Stats* stats) const
diff --git a/docs/source/reference/modding/settings/game.rst b/docs/source/reference/modding/settings/game.rst
index 368401f5c5..a602fa99fe 100644
--- a/docs/source/reference/modding/settings/game.rst
+++ b/docs/source/reference/modding/settings/game.rst
@@ -541,3 +541,14 @@ In third person, the camera will sway along with the movement animations of the
 Enabling this option disables this swaying by having the player character move independently of its animation.
 
 This setting can be controlled in the Settings tab of the launcher.
+
+smooth animation transitions
+---------------------------------
+
+:Type:		boolean
+:Range:		True/False
+:Default:	False
+
+Enabling this option uses smooth transitions between animations making them a lot less jarring. Also allows to load modded animation blending.
+
+This setting can be controlled in the Settings tab of the launcher.