diff --git a/OpenSim/Grid/AssetInventoryServer/AssetInventoryConfig.cs b/OpenSim/Grid/AssetInventoryServer/AssetInventoryConfig.cs
index d0f42503fa..79b6c73505 100644
--- a/OpenSim/Grid/AssetInventoryServer/AssetInventoryConfig.cs
+++ b/OpenSim/Grid/AssetInventoryServer/AssetInventoryConfig.cs
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ namespace OpenSim.Grid.AssetInventoryServer
             {
                 IConfig config = result.AddConfig("Config");
                 config.Set("listen_port", 8003);
+                config.Set("assetset_location", String.Format(".{0}assets{0}AssetSets.xml", Path.DirectorySeparatorChar));
             }
 
             {
diff --git a/OpenSim/Grid/AssetInventoryServer/AssetInventoryServer.cs b/OpenSim/Grid/AssetInventoryServer/AssetInventoryServer.cs
index 74e6ea4609..2687af6022 100644
--- a/OpenSim/Grid/AssetInventoryServer/AssetInventoryServer.cs
+++ b/OpenSim/Grid/AssetInventoryServer/AssetInventoryServer.cs
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ using System.Reflection;
 using OpenSim.Framework;
 using OpenSim.Framework.Servers;
 using OpenSim.Framework.Console;
+using OpenSim.Framework.AssetLoader.Filesystem;
 using Nini.Config;
 using log4net;
 
@@ -96,6 +97,8 @@ namespace OpenSim.Grid.AssetInventoryServer
                 return false;
             }
 
+            LoadDefaultAssets(); 
+
             AuthenticationProvider = LoadAssetInventoryServerPlugin("/OpenSim/AssetInventoryServer/AuthenticationProvider",
                                                                     "authentication_provider", false) as IAuthenticationProvider;
             m_backends.Add(AuthenticationProvider);
@@ -197,5 +200,16 @@ namespace OpenSim.Grid.AssetInventoryServer
 
             return loader.Plugins;
         }
+
+        private void LoadDefaultAssets()
+        {
+            AssetLoaderFileSystem assetLoader = new AssetLoaderFileSystem();
+            assetLoader.ForEachDefaultXmlAsset(ConfigFile.Configs["Config"].GetString("assetset_location"), StoreAsset);
+        }
+
+        private void StoreAsset(AssetBase asset)
+        {
+            StorageProvider.TryCreateAsset(asset);
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/bin/AssetInventoryServer.ini.example b/bin/AssetInventoryServer.ini.example
index bba4668c24..20e7ba654b 100644
--- a/bin/AssetInventoryServer.ini.example
+++ b/bin/AssetInventoryServer.ini.example
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 ; The port number for the asset server to listen on.
 listen_port = 8003
 
+; Points to an XML file which describes assets to load on startup.
+; This is "./assets/AssetSets.xml" by default and can be changed below.
+;assetset_location = ./assets/AssetSets.xml
+
 [Plugins]
 
 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
diff --git a/prebuild.xml b/prebuild.xml
index bcaae4f170..6905abbf22 100644
--- a/prebuild.xml
+++ b/prebuild.xml
@@ -768,6 +768,7 @@
       <Reference name="OpenSim.Framework"/>
       <Reference name="OpenSim.Framework.Servers"/>
       <Reference name="OpenSim.Framework.Console"/>
+      <Reference name="OpenSim.Framework.AssetLoader.Filesystem"/>
       <Reference name="Nini.dll" />
       <Reference name="log4net"/>