diff --git a/applet.cpp b/applet.cpp
index da5cc36b5..a6692b87f 100644
--- a/applet.cpp
+++ b/applet.cpp
@@ -1584,7 +1584,7 @@ QSet<QString> AppletPrivate::knownCategories()
 {
     // this is to trick the tranlsation tools into making the correct
     // strings for translation
-    QSet<QString> categories;
+    QSet<QString> categories = s_customCategories;
     categories << QString(I18N_NOOP("Accessibility")).toLower()
                << QString(I18N_NOOP("Application Launchers")).toLower()
                << QString(I18N_NOOP("Astronomy")).toLower()
@@ -1829,6 +1829,16 @@ QStringList Applet::listCategories(const QString &parentApp, bool visibleOnly)
     return categories;
 }
 
+void Applet::setCustomCategories(const QStringList &categories)
+{
+    AppletPrivate::s_customCategories = QSet<QString>::fromList(categories);
+}
+
+QStringList Applet::customCategories()
+{
+    return AppletPrivate::s_customCategories.toList();
+}
+
 Applet::Applet(const QString &packagePath, uint appletId, const QVariantList &args)
     : QGraphicsWidget(0),
       d(new AppletPrivate(KService::Ptr(new KService(packagePath + "/metadata.desktop")), appletId, this))
@@ -2421,6 +2431,7 @@ uint AppletPrivate::s_maxAppletId = 0;
 int AppletPrivate::s_maxZValue = 0;
 int AppletPrivate::s_minZValue = 0;
 PackageStructure::Ptr AppletPrivate::packageStructure(0);
+QSet<QString> AppletPrivate::s_customCategories;
 
 AppletOverlayWidget::AppletOverlayWidget(QGraphicsWidget *parent)
     : QGraphicsWidget(parent),
diff --git a/applet.h b/applet.h
index bb209ad0a..cbe2ae662 100644
--- a/applet.h
+++ b/applet.h
@@ -296,8 +296,7 @@ class PLASMA_EXPORT Applet : public QGraphicsWidget
         static KPluginInfo::List listAppletInfoForMimetype(const QString &mimetype);
 
         /**
-         * Returns a list of all the categories used by
-         * installed applets.
+         * Returns a list of all the categories used by installed applets.
          *
          * @param parentApp the application to filter applets on. Uses the
          *                  X-KDE-ParentApp entry (if any) in the plugin info.
@@ -310,6 +309,20 @@ class PLASMA_EXPORT Applet : public QGraphicsWidget
         static QStringList listCategories(const QString &parentApp = QString(),
                                           bool visibleOnly = true);
 
+        /**
+         * Sets the list of custom categories that are used in addition to the default
+         * set of categories known to libplasma for Applets.
+         * @arg categories a list of categories
+         * @since 4.3
+         */
+        void setCustomCategories(const QStringList &categories);
+
+        /**
+         * @return the list of custom categories known to libplasma
+         * @since 4.3
+         */
+        QStringList customCategories();
+
         /**
          * Attempts to load an apppet from a package
          *
diff --git a/private/applet_p.h b/private/applet_p.h
index 457c10b00..11a20a0a1 100644
--- a/private/applet_p.h
+++ b/private/applet_p.h
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ public:
     static int s_maxZValue;
     static int s_minZValue;
     static PackageStructure::Ptr packageStructure;
+    static QSet<QString> s_customCategories;
 
     //TODO: examine the usage of memory here; there's a pretty large
     //      number of members at this point.