diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/resource/Handler.java b/src/java/com/threerings/resource/Handler.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..219834abe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/resource/Handler.java
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+//
+// $Id: Handler.java,v 1.1 2003/04/24 07:23:47 ray Exp $
+
+package com.threerings.resource;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+
+import java.net.URL;
+import java.net.URLConnection;
+import java.net.URLStreamHandler;
+
+/**
+ * This class is not used directly, except by a registering ResourceManager
+ * so that we can load data from the resource manager using URLs of the form
+ * <code>resource://&lt;bundle&gt;/&lt;path&gt;</code>.
+ */
+public class Handler extends URLStreamHandler
+{
+    /**
+     * Register this class to handle "resource" urls
+     * ("resource://<i>bundlename</i>/<i>path</i>") with the specified
+     * ResourceManager.
+     */
+    public static void registerHandler (ResourceManager rmgr)
+    {
+        _rmgr = rmgr;
+
+        String prop = System.getProperty(HANDLER_PROP, "");
+        if (!"".equals(prop)) {
+            prop += "|";
+        }
+        prop += "com.threerings";
+        System.setProperty(HANDLER_PROP, prop);
+    }
+
+    // documentation inherited
+    protected URLConnection openConnection (URL url)
+        throws IOException
+    {
+        return new URLConnection(url) {
+            // documentation inherited
+            public void connect ()
+                throws IOException
+            {
+                try {
+                    // the host is the bundle name
+                    _stream = _rmgr.getResource(this.url.getHost(),
+                        // and we need to remove the leading '/' from path
+                        this.url.getPath().substring(1));
+                    this.connected = true;
+
+                } catch (IOException ioe) {
+                    Log.warning("Could not find resource [url=" + this.url +
+                        ", error=" + ioe.getMessage() + "].");
+                    throw ioe; // rethrow
+                }
+            }
+
+            // documentation inherited
+            public InputStream getInputStream ()
+                throws IOException
+            {
+                if (!this.connected) {
+                    connect();
+                }
+                return _stream;
+            }
+
+            protected InputStream _stream;
+        };
+    }
+
+    /** Our singleton resource manager. */
+    protected static ResourceManager _rmgr;
+
+    /** Dug up from java.net.URL */
+    protected static final String HANDLER_PROP = "java.protocol.handler.pkgs";
+}
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/resource/ResourceManager.java b/src/java/com/threerings/resource/ResourceManager.java
index fb4086fac..cf3a59c77 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/resource/ResourceManager.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/resource/ResourceManager.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 //
-// $Id: ResourceManager.java,v 1.23 2003/02/12 18:11:33 mdb Exp $
+// $Id: ResourceManager.java,v 1.24 2003/04/24 07:23:47 ray Exp $
 
 package com.threerings.resource;
 
@@ -148,6 +148,10 @@ public class ResourceManager
 
         // use the classloader that loaded us
         _loader = getClass().getClassLoader();
+
+        // set up a URL handler so that things can be loaded via
+        // urls with the 'resource' protocol
+        Handler.registerHandler(this);
     }
 
     /**