diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.D2k/OpenRA.Mods.D2k.csproj b/OpenRA.Mods.D2k/OpenRA.Mods.D2k.csproj
index 01d307f517..f0c67781f0 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.D2k/OpenRA.Mods.D2k.csproj
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.D2k/OpenRA.Mods.D2k.csproj
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@
     <Compile Include="Widgets\Logic\D2kInstallFromCDLogic.cs" />
     <Compile Include="BuildingCaptureNotification.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Render\WithCrumbleOverlay.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="PaletteFromR8.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <Import Project="$(MSBuildBinPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
   <PropertyGroup>
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.D2k/PaletteFromR8.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.D2k/PaletteFromR8.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..697b31e67c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.D2k/PaletteFromR8.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#region Copyright & License Information
+/*
+ * Copyright 2007-2012 The OpenRA Developers (see AUTHORS)
+ * This file is part of OpenRA, which is free software. It is made
+ * available to you under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation. For more information,
+ * see COPYING.
+ */
+#endregion
+
+using System.IO;
+using OpenRA.FileFormats;
+using OpenRA.Traits;
+using OpenRA.Graphics;
+
+namespace OpenRA.Mods.RA
+{
+	class PaletteFromR8Info : ITraitInfo
+	{
+		[Desc("Internal palette name")]
+		public readonly string Name = null;
+		[Desc("Filename to load")]
+		public readonly string Filename = null;
+		[Desc("Palette byte offset")]
+		public readonly long Offset = 0;
+		public readonly bool AllowModifiers = true;
+		
+		public object Create(ActorInitializer init) { return new PaletteFromR8(this); }
+	}
+
+	class PaletteFromR8 : IPalette
+	{
+		readonly PaletteFromR8Info info;
+		public PaletteFromR8(PaletteFromR8Info info) { this.info = info; }
+
+		public void InitPalette(WorldRenderer wr)
+		{
+			var colors = new uint[256];
+			using (var s = FileSystem.Open(info.Filename))
+			{
+				s.Seek(info.Offset, SeekOrigin.Begin);
+
+				for (var i = 0; i < 256; i++)
+				{
+					var packed = s.ReadUInt16();
+					colors[i] = (uint)((255 << 24) | ((packed & 0xF800) << 8) | ((packed & 0x7E0) << 5) | ((packed & 0x1f) << 3));
+				}
+			}
+
+			wr.AddPalette(info.Name, new Palette(colors), info.AllowModifiers);
+		}
+	}
+}