diff --git a/platform/util/src/com/intellij/openapi/application/PathManager.java b/platform/util/src/com/intellij/openapi/application/PathManager.java
index d532642b842f..4001fd0138ef 100644
--- a/platform/util/src/com/intellij/openapi/application/PathManager.java
+++ b/platform/util/src/com/intellij/openapi/application/PathManager.java
@@ -320,19 +320,19 @@ public class PathManager {
 
     if (propFile != null) {
       try {
-        InputStream fis = new BufferedInputStream(new FileInputStream(propFile));
+        Reader fis = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(propFile));
         try {
-          final PropertyResourceBundle bundle = new PropertyResourceBundle(fis);
-          final Enumeration keys = bundle.getKeys();
-          String home = (String)bundle.handleGetObject("idea.home");
+          Map<String, String> properties = FileUtil.loadProperties(fis);
+
+          String home = properties.get("idea.home");
           if (home != null && ourHomePath == null) {
             ourHomePath = getAbsolutePath(substituteVars(home));
           }
-          final Properties sysProperties = System.getProperties();
-          while (keys.hasMoreElements()) {
-            String key = (String)keys.nextElement();
+
+          Properties sysProperties = System.getProperties();
+          for (String key : properties.keySet()) {
             if (sysProperties.getProperty(key, null) == null) { // load the property from the property file only if it is not defined yet
-              final String value = substituteVars(bundle.getString(key));
+              String value = substituteVars(properties.get(key));
               sysProperties.setProperty(key, value);
             }
           }
diff --git a/platform/util/src/com/intellij/openapi/util/io/FileUtil.java b/platform/util/src/com/intellij/openapi/util/io/FileUtil.java
index fa0f436d5e0d..d8078d0f511f 100644
--- a/platform/util/src/com/intellij/openapi/util/io/FileUtil.java
+++ b/platform/util/src/com/intellij/openapi/util/io/FileUtil.java
@@ -1438,4 +1438,23 @@ public class FileUtil extends FileUtilRt {
 
     return true;
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Like {@link Properties#load(java.io.Reader)}, but preserves the order of key/value pairs.
+   */
+  @NotNull
+  public static Map<String, String> loadProperties(@NotNull Reader reader) throws IOException {
+    final Map<String, String> map = ContainerUtil.newLinkedHashMap();
+
+    new Properties() {
+      @Override
+      public synchronized Object put(Object key, Object value) {
+        map.put(String.valueOf(key), String.valueOf(value));
+        //noinspection UseOfPropertiesAsHashtable
+        return super.put(key, value);
+      }
+    }.load(reader);
+
+    return map;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/platform/util/testSrc/com/intellij/openapi/util/io/FileUtilLightTest.java b/platform/util/testSrc/com/intellij/openapi/util/io/FileUtilLightTest.java
index 710e0c871d4b..1e1295cfa727 100644
--- a/platform/util/testSrc/com/intellij/openapi/util/io/FileUtilLightTest.java
+++ b/platform/util/testSrc/com/intellij/openapi/util/io/FileUtilLightTest.java
@@ -19,12 +19,16 @@ import com.intellij.openapi.util.SystemInfo;
 import com.intellij.util.ArrayUtil;
 import com.intellij.util.PairProcessor;
 import com.intellij.util.ThreeState;
+import com.intellij.util.containers.ContainerUtil;
 import com.intellij.util.containers.Convertor;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.StringReader;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 
@@ -145,4 +149,11 @@ public class FileUtilLightTest {
     assertFalse(FileUtil.startsWith("c:/idea2", "c:/idea"));
     assertFalse(FileUtil.startsWith("c:/idea_branches/i18n", "c:/idea"));
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testLoadProperties() throws IOException {
+    String data = "key2=value2\nkey1=value1\nkey3=value3";
+    Map<String, String> map = FileUtil.loadProperties(new StringReader(data));
+    assertEquals(ContainerUtil.newArrayList("key2", "key1", "key3"), ContainerUtil.newArrayList(map.keySet()));
+  }
 }