diff --git a/plugins/model/cpicosurface.cpp b/plugins/model/cpicosurface.cpp
index 470623f..9f5665e 100644
--- a/plugins/model/cpicosurface.cpp
+++ b/plugins/model/cpicosurface.cpp
@@ -33,6 +33,20 @@ CPicoSurface::CPicoSurface( picoSurface_t *pSurface ){
 	AccumulateBBox();
 
 	m_shader = QERApp_Shader_ForName( GetShaderName() );
+
+	// jdolan: If the shader fails to load, try skin.tga in the model's
+	// directory as a fall-back. This is a hack for malformed models.
+
+	if ( m_shader->IsDefault()) {
+		gchar *dir = g_path_get_dirname(m_pSurface->model->name);
+		gchar *skin = g_strdup_printf("%s/skin.tga", dir);
+
+		m_shader->DecRef();
+		m_shader = QERApp_Shader_ForName( skin );
+
+		g_free(skin);
+		g_free(dir);
+	}
 }
 
 CPicoSurface::~CPicoSurface(){