diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d88fce1d05..ff3feec753 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
     Bug #4293: Faction members are not aware of faction ownerships in barter
     Bug #4426: RotateWorld behavior is incorrect
     Bug #4433: Guard behaviour is incorrect with Alarm = 0
+    Feature #4444: Per-group KF-animation files support
 
 0.44.0
 ------
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.cpp
index 1bd839ead4..3ccc066650 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.cpp
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@
 #include <components/sceneutil/skeleton.hpp>
 #include <components/sceneutil/positionattitudetransform.hpp>
 
+#include <components/settings/settings.hpp>
+
 #include <components/fallback/fallback.hpp>
 
 #include "../mwbase/environment.hpp"
@@ -466,6 +468,8 @@ namespace MWRender
             mAnimationTimePtr[i].reset(new AnimationTime);
 
         mLightListCallback = new SceneUtil::LightListCallback;
+
+        mUseAdditionalSources = Settings::Manager::getBool ("use additional anim sources", "Game");
     }
 
     Animation::~Animation()
@@ -536,6 +540,35 @@ namespace MWRender
         return mKeyframes->mTextKeys;
     }
 
+    void Animation::loadAllAnimationsInFolder(const std::string &model, const std::string &baseModel)
+    {
+        const std::map<std::string, VFS::File*>& index = mResourceSystem->getVFS()->getIndex();
+
+        std::string animationPath = model;
+        if (animationPath.find("meshes") == 0)
+        {
+            animationPath.replace(0, 6, "animations");
+        }
+        animationPath.replace(animationPath.size()-3, 3, "/");
+
+        mResourceSystem->getVFS()->normalizeFilename(animationPath);
+
+        std::map<std::string, VFS::File*>::const_iterator found = index.lower_bound(animationPath);
+        while (found != index.end())
+        {
+            const std::string& name = found->first;
+            if (name.size() >= animationPath.size() && name.substr(0, animationPath.size()) == animationPath)
+            {
+                size_t pos = name.find_last_of('.');
+                if (pos != std::string::npos && name.compare(pos, name.size()-pos, ".kf") == 0)
+                    addSingleAnimSource(name, baseModel);
+            }
+            else
+                break;
+            ++found;
+        }
+    }
+
     void Animation::addAnimSource(const std::string &model, const std::string& baseModel)
     {
         std::string kfname = model;
@@ -546,6 +579,14 @@ namespace MWRender
         else
             return;
 
+        addSingleAnimSource(kfname, baseModel);
+
+        if (mUseAdditionalSources)
+            loadAllAnimationsInFolder(kfname, baseModel);
+    }
+
+    void Animation::addSingleAnimSource(const std::string &kfname, const std::string& baseModel)
+    {
         if(!mResourceSystem->getVFS()->exists(kfname))
             return;
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.hpp
index cff98a4b78..43a6268994 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.hpp
@@ -275,6 +275,8 @@ protected:
 
     osg::ref_ptr<SceneUtil::LightListCallback> mLightListCallback;
 
+    bool mUseAdditionalSources;
+
     const NodeMap& getNodeMap() const;
 
     /* Sets the appropriate animations on the bone groups based on priority.
@@ -309,12 +311,15 @@ protected:
      */
     void setObjectRoot(const std::string &model, bool forceskeleton, bool baseonly, bool isCreature);
 
+    void loadAllAnimationsInFolder(const std::string &model, const std::string &baseModel);
+
     /** Adds the keyframe controllers in the specified model as a new animation source.
      * @note Later added animation sources have the highest priority when it comes to finding a particular animation.
      * @param model The file to add the keyframes for. Note that the .nif file extension will be replaced with .kf.
      * @param baseModel The filename of the mObjectRoot, only used for error messages.
     */
     void addAnimSource(const std::string &model, const std::string& baseModel);
+    void addSingleAnimSource(const std::string &model, const std::string& baseModel);
 
     /** Adds an additional light to the given node using the specified ESM record. */
     void addExtraLight(osg::ref_ptr<osg::Group> parent, const ESM::Light *light);
diff --git a/docs/source/reference/modding/settings/game.rst b/docs/source/reference/modding/settings/game.rst
index 7a9b89295d..416f1bc1ac 100644
--- a/docs/source/reference/modding/settings/game.rst
+++ b/docs/source/reference/modding/settings/game.rst
@@ -157,3 +157,16 @@ Otherwise they wait for the enemies or the player to do an attack first.
 Please note this setting has not been extensively tested and could have side effects with certain quests.
 
 This setting can only be configured by editing the settings configuration file.
+
+use additional anim sources
+---------------------------
+
+:Type:		boolean
+:Range:		True/False
+:Default:	False
+
+Allow to load additional animation sources when enabled.
+For example, if the main animation mesh has name Meshes/x.nif, an engine will load all KF-files from Animations/x folder and its child folders.
+Can be useful if you want to use several animation replacers without merging them.
+Attention: animations from AnimKit have own format and are not supposed to be directly loaded in-game!
+This setting can only be configured by editing the settings configuration file.
diff --git a/files/settings-default.cfg b/files/settings-default.cfg
index b10b91eb1c..09283bfc91 100644
--- a/files/settings-default.cfg
+++ b/files/settings-default.cfg
@@ -219,6 +219,9 @@ can loot during death animation = true
 # Makes the value of filled soul gems dependent only on soul magnitude (with formula from the Morrowind Code Patch)
 rebalance soul gem values = false
 
+# Allow to load per-group KF-files from Animations folder
+use additional anim sources = false
+
 [General]
 
 # Anisotropy reduces distortion in textures at low angles (e.g. 0 to 16).