diff --git a/Extras/Serialize/BulletWorldImporter/btBulletWorldImporter.cpp b/Extras/Serialize/BulletWorldImporter/btBulletWorldImporter.cpp
index eed947a60..93206b2b2 100644
--- a/Extras/Serialize/BulletWorldImporter/btBulletWorldImporter.cpp
+++ b/Extras/Serialize/BulletWorldImporter/btBulletWorldImporter.cpp
@@ -94,6 +94,10 @@ void btBulletWorldImporter::deleteAllData()
 
 			if(curPart->m_indices16)
 				delete [] curPart->m_indices16;
+			
+			if (curPart->m_3indices8)
+				delete [] curPart->m_3indices8;
+
 		}
 		delete [] curData->m_meshPartsPtr;
 		delete curData;
@@ -108,8 +112,13 @@ void btBulletWorldImporter::deleteAllData()
 	for (i=0;i<m_shortIndexArrays.size();i++)
 	{
 		btAlignedFree(m_shortIndexArrays[i]);
-
 	}
+
+	for (i=0;i<m_charIndexArrays.size();i++)
+	{
+		btAlignedFree(m_charIndexArrays[i]);
+	}
+
 	for (i=0;i<m_floatVertexArrays.size();i++)
 	{
 		btAlignedFree(m_floatVertexArrays[i]);
@@ -173,9 +182,9 @@ btTriangleIndexVertexArray* btBulletWorldImporter::createMeshInterface(btStridin
 			meshPart.m_triangleIndexBase = (const unsigned char*)indexArray;
 		} else
 		{
-			meshPart.m_indexType = PHY_SHORT;
 			if (meshData.m_meshPartsPtr[i].m_3indices16)
 			{
+				meshPart.m_indexType = PHY_SHORT;
 				meshPart.m_triangleIndexStride = sizeof(short int)*3;//sizeof(btShortIntIndexTripletData);
 
 				short int* indexArray = (short int*)btAlignedAlloc(sizeof(short int)*3*meshPart.m_numTriangles,16);
@@ -192,6 +201,7 @@ btTriangleIndexVertexArray* btBulletWorldImporter::createMeshInterface(btStridin
 			}
 			if (meshData.m_meshPartsPtr[i].m_indices16)
 			{
+				meshPart.m_indexType = PHY_SHORT;
 				meshPart.m_triangleIndexStride = 3*sizeof(short int);
 				short int* indexArray = (short int*)btAlignedAlloc(sizeof(short int)*3*meshPart.m_numTriangles,16);
 				m_shortIndexArrays.push_back(indexArray);
@@ -203,6 +213,23 @@ btTriangleIndexVertexArray* btBulletWorldImporter::createMeshInterface(btStridin
 				meshPart.m_triangleIndexBase = (const unsigned char*)indexArray;
 			}
 
+			if (meshData.m_meshPartsPtr[i].m_3indices8)
+			{
+				meshPart.m_indexType = PHY_UCHAR;
+				meshPart.m_triangleIndexStride = sizeof(unsigned char)*3;
+
+				unsigned char* indexArray = (unsigned char*)btAlignedAlloc(sizeof(unsigned char)*3*meshPart.m_numTriangles,16);
+				m_charIndexArrays.push_back(indexArray);
+
+				for (int j=0;j<meshPart.m_numTriangles;j++)
+				{
+					indexArray[3*j] = meshData.m_meshPartsPtr[i].m_3indices8[j].m_values[0];
+					indexArray[3*j+1] = meshData.m_meshPartsPtr[i].m_3indices8[j].m_values[1];
+					indexArray[3*j+2] = meshData.m_meshPartsPtr[i].m_3indices8[j].m_values[2];
+				}
+
+				meshPart.m_triangleIndexBase = (const unsigned char*)indexArray;
+			}
 		}
 
 		if (meshData.m_meshPartsPtr[i].m_vertices3f)
@@ -265,7 +292,7 @@ btStridingMeshInterfaceData* btBulletWorldImporter::createStridingMeshInterfaceD
 
 		curNewPart->m_numTriangles = curPart->m_numTriangles;
 		curNewPart->m_numVertices = curPart->m_numVertices;
-
+		
 		if(curPart->m_vertices3f)
 		{
 			curNewPart->m_vertices3f = new btVector3FloatData[curNewPart->m_numVertices];
@@ -283,9 +310,13 @@ btStridingMeshInterfaceData* btBulletWorldImporter::createStridingMeshInterfaceD
 			curNewPart->m_vertices3d = NULL;
 
 		int numIndices = curNewPart->m_numTriangles * 3;
+		///the m_3indices8 was not initialized in some Bullet versions, this can cause crashes at loading time
+		///we catch it by only dealing with m_3indices8 if none of the other indices are initialized
+		bool uninitialized3indices8Workaround =false;
 
 		if(curPart->m_indices32)
 		{
+			uninitialized3indices8Workaround=true;
 			curNewPart->m_indices32 = new btIntIndexData[numIndices];
 			memcpy(curNewPart->m_indices32,curPart->m_indices32,sizeof(btIntIndexData) * numIndices);
 		}
@@ -294,19 +325,30 @@ btStridingMeshInterfaceData* btBulletWorldImporter::createStridingMeshInterfaceD
 
 		if(curPart->m_3indices16)
 		{
-			curNewPart->m_3indices16 = new btShortIntIndexTripletData[numIndices];
-			memcpy(curNewPart->m_3indices16,curPart->m_3indices16,sizeof(btShortIntIndexTripletData) * numIndices);
+			uninitialized3indices8Workaround=true;
+			curNewPart->m_3indices16 = new btShortIntIndexTripletData[curNewPart->m_numTriangles];
+			memcpy(curNewPart->m_3indices16,curPart->m_3indices16,sizeof(btShortIntIndexTripletData) * curNewPart->m_numTriangles);
 		}
 		else
 			curNewPart->m_3indices16 = NULL;
 
 		if(curPart->m_indices16)
 		{
+			uninitialized3indices8Workaround=true;
 			curNewPart->m_indices16 = new btShortIntIndexData[numIndices];
 			memcpy(curNewPart->m_indices16,curPart->m_indices16,sizeof(btShortIntIndexData) * numIndices);
 		}
 		else
 			curNewPart->m_indices16 = NULL;
+
+		if(!uninitialized3indices8Workaround && curPart->m_3indices8)
+		{
+			curNewPart->m_3indices8 = new btCharIndexTripletData[curNewPart->m_numTriangles];
+			memcpy(curNewPart->m_3indices8,curPart->m_3indices8,sizeof(btCharIndexTripletData) * curNewPart->m_numTriangles);
+		}
+		else
+			curNewPart->m_3indices8 = NULL;
+
 	}
 
 	m_allocatedbtStridingMeshInterfaceDatas.push_back(newData);
diff --git a/Extras/Serialize/BulletWorldImporter/btBulletWorldImporter.h b/Extras/Serialize/BulletWorldImporter/btBulletWorldImporter.h
index 1cf3fe93f..ee57c2e2e 100644
--- a/Extras/Serialize/BulletWorldImporter/btBulletWorldImporter.h
+++ b/Extras/Serialize/BulletWorldImporter/btBulletWorldImporter.h
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ protected:
 
 	btAlignedObjectArray<int*>				m_indexArrays;
 	btAlignedObjectArray<short int*>		m_shortIndexArrays;
+	btAlignedObjectArray<unsigned char*>	m_charIndexArrays;
+
 	btAlignedObjectArray<btVector3FloatData*>	m_floatVertexArrays;
 	btAlignedObjectArray<btVector3DoubleData*>	m_doubleVertexArrays;
 
diff --git a/src/BulletCollision/CollisionShapes/btStridingMeshInterface.cpp b/src/BulletCollision/CollisionShapes/btStridingMeshInterface.cpp
index bc2f9f214..dd22fc563 100644
--- a/src/BulletCollision/CollisionShapes/btStridingMeshInterface.cpp
+++ b/src/BulletCollision/CollisionShapes/btStridingMeshInterface.cpp
@@ -253,9 +253,11 @@ const char*	btStridingMeshInterface::serialize(void* dataBuffer, btSerializer* s
 			memPtr->m_indices16 = 0;
 			memPtr->m_indices32 = 0;
 			memPtr->m_3indices16 = 0;
+			memPtr->m_3indices8 = 0;
 			memPtr->m_vertices3f = 0;
 			memPtr->m_vertices3d = 0;
 
+
 			switch (gfxindextype)
 			{
 			case PHY_INTEGER: