diff --git a/src/app/qgisapp.cpp b/src/app/qgisapp.cpp
index 1ac7c155fbc..44d1cb1aeeb 100644
--- a/src/app/qgisapp.cpp
+++ b/src/app/qgisapp.cpp
@@ -1836,6 +1836,8 @@ void QgisApp::setupConnections()
            this, SLOT( oldProjectVersionWarning( QString ) ) );
   connect( QgsProject::instance(), SIGNAL( layerLoaded( int, int ) ),
            this, SLOT( showProgress( int, int ) ) );
+  connect( QgsProject::instance(), SIGNAL( loadingLayer( QString ) ),
+           this, SLOT( showStatusMessage( QString ) ) );
   connect( QgsProject::instance(), SIGNAL( readProject( const QDomDocument & ) ),
            this, SLOT( readProject( const QDomDocument & ) ) );
   connect( QgsProject::instance(), SIGNAL( writeProject( QDomDocument & ) ),
diff --git a/src/core/qgsproject.cpp b/src/core/qgsproject.cpp
index 6f5f3b28948..d2f3d08054e 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsproject.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsproject.cpp
@@ -685,6 +685,10 @@ QPair< bool, QList<QDomNode> > QgsProject::_getMapLayers( QDomDocument const &do
     QDomNode node = nl.item( i );
     QDomElement element = node.toElement();
 
+    QString name = node.namedItem( "layername" ).toElement().text();
+    if( !name.isNull() )
+      emit loadingLayer( tr( "Loading layer %1" ).arg( name ) );
+
     if ( element.attribute( "embedded" ) == "1" )
     {
       createEmbeddedLayer( element.attribute( "id" ), readPath( element.attribute( "project" ) ), brokenNodes, vLayerList );
diff --git a/src/core/qgsproject.h b/src/core/qgsproject.h
index daa605cc3c1..8e53d8ce31c 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsproject.h
+++ b/src/core/qgsproject.h
@@ -348,6 +348,8 @@ class CORE_EXPORT QgsProject : public QObject
     // @param n number of layers
     void layerLoaded( int i, int n );
 
+    void loadingLayer( QString );
+
     void snapSettingsChanged();
 
   private: