diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.cpp
index 3a0f543d9..df6d6e9f2 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.cpp
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <osg/ComputeBoundsVisitor>
 #include <osg/MatrixTransform>
 #include <osg/io_utils>
+#include <osg/Geode>
 
 #include <components/nifosg/nifloader.hpp>
 
@@ -167,6 +168,38 @@ namespace
 
         return 0.0f;
     }
+
+
+    // Removes all drawables from a graph.
+    class RemoveDrawableVisitor : public osg::NodeVisitor
+    {
+    public:
+        RemoveDrawableVisitor()
+            : osg::NodeVisitor(TRAVERSE_ALL_CHILDREN)
+        {
+        }
+
+        virtual void apply(osg::Geode &node)
+        {
+            // Not safe to remove in apply(), since the visitor is still iterating the child list
+            mToRemove.push_back(&node);
+            traverse(node);
+        }
+
+        void remove()
+        {
+            for (std::vector<osg::Node*>::iterator it = mToRemove.begin(); it != mToRemove.end(); ++it)
+            {
+                osg::Node* node = *it;
+                if (node->getNumParents())
+                    node->getParent(0)->removeChild(node);
+            }
+        }
+
+    private:
+        std::vector<osg::Node*> mToRemove;
+    };
+
 }
 
 namespace MWRender
@@ -836,7 +869,7 @@ namespace MWRender
         return movement;
     }
 
-    void Animation::setObjectRoot(const std::string &model, bool forceskeleton)
+    void Animation::setObjectRoot(const std::string &model, bool forceskeleton, bool baseonly)
     {
         if (mObjectRoot)
         {
@@ -864,6 +897,13 @@ namespace MWRender
             mObjectRoot = newObjectRoot;
         }
 
+        if (baseonly)
+        {
+            RemoveDrawableVisitor removeDrawableVisitor;
+            mObjectRoot->accept(removeDrawableVisitor);
+            removeDrawableVisitor.remove();
+        }
+
         NodeMapVisitor visitor;
         mObjectRoot->accept(visitor);
         mNodeMap = visitor.getNodeMap();
@@ -1130,7 +1170,7 @@ namespace MWRender
     {
         if (!model.empty())
         {
-            setObjectRoot(model, false);
+            setObjectRoot(model, false, false);
 
             if (!ptr.getClass().getEnchantment(ptr).empty())
                 addGlow(mObjectRoot, getEnchantmentColor(ptr));
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.hpp
index 0c490b525..119814135 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/animation.hpp
@@ -230,8 +230,10 @@ protected:
      * Note that you must make sure all animation sources are cleared before reseting the object
      * root. All nodes previously retrieved with getNode will also become invalidated.
      * @param forceskeleton Wrap the object root in a Skeleton, even if it contains no skinned parts. Use this if you intend to add skinned parts manually.
+     * @param baseonly If true, then any meshes or particle systems in the model are ignored
+     *      (useful for NPCs, where only the skeleton is needed for the root, and the actual NPC parts are then assembled from separate files).
      */
-    void setObjectRoot(const std::string &model, bool forceskeleton);
+    void setObjectRoot(const std::string &model, bool forceskeleton, bool baseonly);
 
     /* Adds the keyframe controllers in the specified model as a new animation source. Note that
      * the filename portion of the provided model name will be prepended with 'x', and the .nif
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/creatureanimation.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/creatureanimation.cpp
index 25d9e9e47..e15dee532 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/creatureanimation.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/creatureanimation.cpp
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ CreatureAnimation::CreatureAnimation(const MWWorld::Ptr &ptr,
 
     if(!model.empty())
     {
-        setObjectRoot(model, false /* , baseonly = false */);
+        setObjectRoot(model, false, false);
         //setRenderProperties(mObjectRoot, RV_Actors, RQG_Main, RQG_Alpha);
 
         if((ref->mBase->mFlags&ESM::Creature::Bipedal))
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ CreatureWeaponAnimation::CreatureWeaponAnimation(const MWWorld::Ptr &ptr, const
 
     if(!model.empty())
     {
-        setObjectRoot(model, true /* , baseonly = false*/);
+        setObjectRoot(model, true, false);
         //setRenderProperties(mObjectRoot, RV_Actors, RQG_Main, RQG_Alpha);
 
         if((ref->mBase->mFlags&ESM::Creature::Bipedal))
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/npcanimation.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/npcanimation.cpp
index b23a72e55..5fafa6d59 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/npcanimation.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/npcanimation.cpp
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ void NpcAnimation::updateNpcBase()
                                       : "meshes\\wolf\\skin.1st.nif");
     smodel = Misc::ResourceHelpers::correctActorModelPath(smodel, mResourceSystem->getVFS());
 
-    setObjectRoot(smodel, true /*, baseonly = true*/);
+    setObjectRoot(smodel, true, true);
 
     if(mViewMode != VM_FirstPerson)
     {