diff --git a/sources/ElementsCollection/elementslocation.cpp b/sources/ElementsCollection/elementslocation.cpp
index 7c34f923a..0e8a94c7a 100644
--- a/sources/ElementsCollection/elementslocation.cpp
+++ b/sources/ElementsCollection/elementslocation.cpp
@@ -709,12 +709,20 @@ pugi::xml_document ElementsLocation::pugiXml() const
 #endif
 	if (!m_project)
 	{
+			//Read through QFile, not pugi's load_file(): on Windows load_file()
+			//fails once the full path reaches MAX_PATH (260 characters), while
+			//QFile handles long paths.
+		QFile file(m_file_system_path);
+		if (!file.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly)) {
+			return docu;
+		}
+		const QByteArray data = file.readAll();
 #ifndef Q_OS_LINUX
-		if (docu.load_file(m_file_system_path.toStdWString().c_str())) {
+		if (docu.load_buffer(data.constData(), data.size())) {
 			docu.save(m_string_stream);
 		}
 #else
-		docu.load_file(m_file_system_path.toStdWString().c_str());
+		docu.load_buffer(data.constData(), data.size());
 #endif
 	}
 	else
diff --git a/sources/ElementsCollection/fileelementcollectionitem.cpp b/sources/ElementsCollection/fileelementcollectionitem.cpp
index 7b9d3ea98..805c3fc27 100644
--- a/sources/ElementsCollection/fileelementcollectionitem.cpp
+++ b/sources/ElementsCollection/fileelementcollectionitem.cpp
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 
 #include <QApplication>
 #include <QDir>
+#include <QFile>
 #include <QPainter>
 #include <QPixmap>
 #include <QStyle>
@@ -178,7 +179,12 @@ QString FileElementCollectionItem::localName()
 			bool readable = false;
 			QString str(fileSystemPath() % "/qet_directory");
 			pugi::xml_document docu;
-			if (docu.load_file(str.toStdWString().c_str()))
+				// QFile rather than pugi's load_file(), which fails on
+				// Windows once the full path reaches 260 characters.
+			QFile file(str);
+			const QByteArray data = file.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly)
+					? file.readAll() : QByteArray();
+			if (!data.isEmpty() && docu.load_buffer(data.constData(), data.size()))
 			{
 				if (QString(docu.document_element().name())
 					== "qet-directory")