diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view.rb
index 0ed69f29bf..7cd9b633ac 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view.rb
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ require 'action_view/base'
 require 'action_view/partials'
 require 'action_view/template_error'
 
-I18n.load_translations "#{File.dirname(__FILE__)}/action_view/locale/en-US.yml"
+I18n.load_path << "#{File.dirname(__FILE__)}/action_view/locale/en-US.yml"
 
 require 'action_view/helpers'
 
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record.rb
index 3f24170ce1..219cd30f94 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record.rb
@@ -78,4 +78,4 @@ require 'active_record/connection_adapters/abstract_adapter'
 require 'active_record/schema_dumper'
 
 require 'active_record/i18n_interpolation_deprecation'
-I18n.load_translations File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/active_record/locale/en-US.yml'
+I18n.load_path << File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/active_record/locale/en-US.yml'
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/validations_i18n_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/validations_i18n_test.rb
index e34890ef19..42246f18b6 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/validations_i18n_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/validations_i18n_test.rb
@@ -6,12 +6,16 @@ class ActiveRecordValidationsI18nTests < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def setup
     reset_callbacks Topic
     @topic = Topic.new
+    @old_load_path, @old_backend = I18n.load_path, I18n.backend
+    I18n.load_path.clear
+    I18n.backend = I18n::Backend::Simple.new
     I18n.backend.store_translations('en-US', :activerecord => {:errors => {:messages => {:custom => nil}}})
   end
 
   def teardown
     reset_callbacks Topic
-    I18n.load_translations File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../../lib/active_record/locale/en-US.yml'
+    I18n.load_path.replace @old_load_path
+    I18n.backend = @old_backend
   end
 
   def unique_topic
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support.rb
index 7e34a871e3..b30faff06d 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support.rb
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ require 'active_support/time_with_zone'
 
 require 'active_support/secure_random'
 
-I18n.load_translations File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/active_support/locale/en-US.yml'
+I18n.load_path << File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/active_support/locale/en-US.yml'
 
 Inflector = ActiveSupport::Deprecation::DeprecatedConstantProxy.new('Inflector', 'ActiveSupport::Inflector')
 Dependencies = ActiveSupport::Deprecation::DeprecatedConstantProxy.new('Dependencies', 'ActiveSupport::Dependencies')
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/i18n-0.0.1/i18n.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/i18n-0.0.1/i18n.rb
index 0988ea8f44..344c77aecf 100755
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/i18n-0.0.1/i18n.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/i18n-0.0.1/i18n.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ require 'i18n/exceptions'
 
 module I18n  
   @@backend = nil
-  @@default_locale = 'en-US'
+  @@load_path = nil
+  @@default_locale = :'en-US'
   @@exception_handler = :default_exception_handler
     
   class << self
@@ -49,14 +50,22 @@ module I18n
       @@exception_handler = exception_handler
     end
     
-    # Allows client libraries to pass arguments that specify a source for 
-    # translation data to be loaded by the backend. The backend defines
-    # acceptable sources. 
+    # Allow clients to register paths providing translation data sources. The
+    # backend defines acceptable sources.
+    #
     # E.g. the provided SimpleBackend accepts a list of paths to translation
     # files which are either named *.rb and contain plain Ruby Hashes or are
-    # named *.yml and contain YAML data.)
-    def load_translations(*args)
-      backend.load_translations(*args)
+    # named *.yml and contain YAML data. So for the SimpleBackend clients may
+    # register translation files like this:
+    #   I18n.load_path << 'path/to/locale/en-US.yml'
+    def load_path
+      @@load_path ||= []
+    end
+
+    # Sets the load path instance. Custom implementations are expected to
+    # behave like a Ruby Array.
+    def load_path=(load_path)
+      @@load_path = load_path
     end
     
     # Translates, pluralizes and interpolates a given key using a given locale, 
@@ -175,6 +184,4 @@ module I18n
       keys.flatten.map{|k| k.to_sym}
     end
   end
-end
-
-
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/i18n-0.0.1/i18n/backend/simple.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/i18n-0.0.1/i18n/backend/simple.rb
index ff15d83f4e..2dbaf8a405 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/i18n-0.0.1/i18n/backend/simple.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/i18n-0.0.1/i18n/backend/simple.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-require 'strscan'
+require 'yaml'
 
 module I18n
   module Backend
@@ -59,7 +59,16 @@ module I18n
         object.strftime(format)
       end
       
+      def initialized?
+        @initialized ||= false
+      end
+
       protected
+
+        def init_translations
+          load_translations(*I18n.load_path)
+          @initialized = true
+        end
         
         def translations
           @translations ||= {}
@@ -72,6 +81,7 @@ module I18n
         # <tt>%w(currency format)</tt>.
         def lookup(locale, key, scope = [])
           return unless key
+          init_translations unless initialized?
           keys = I18n.send :normalize_translation_keys, locale, key, scope
           keys.inject(translations){|result, k| result[k.to_sym] or return nil }
         end
@@ -94,7 +104,7 @@ module I18n
         rescue MissingTranslationData
           nil
         end
-      
+
         # Picks a translation from an array according to English pluralization
         # rules. It will pick the first translation if count is not equal to 1
         # and the second translation if it is equal to 1. Other backends can