diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 38cd1efca5..e4094f0ec2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
     Bug #6451: Weapon summoned from Cast When Used item will have the name "None"
     Bug #6473: Strings from NIF should be parsed only to first null terminator
     Bug #6493: Unlocking owned but not locked or unlocked containers is considered a crime
+    Bug #6517: Rotations for KeyframeData in NIFs should be optional
     Feature #890: OpenMW-CS: Column filtering
     Feature #1465: "Reset" argument for AI functions
     Feature #2554: Modifying an object triggers the instances table to scroll to the corresponding record
diff --git a/components/nif/data.cpp b/components/nif/data.cpp
index cac924733d..1b6d302d68 100644
--- a/components/nif/data.cpp
+++ b/components/nif/data.cpp
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ void NiMorphData::read(NIFStream *nif)
     for(int i = 0;i < morphCount;i++)
     {
         mMorphs[i].mKeyFrames = std::make_shared<FloatKeyMap>();
-        mMorphs[i].mKeyFrames->read(nif, true, /*morph*/true);
+        mMorphs[i].mKeyFrames->read(nif, /*morph*/true);
         nif->getVector3s(mMorphs[i].mVertices, vertCount);
     }
 }
@@ -445,9 +445,9 @@ void NiKeyframeData::read(NIFStream *nif)
         mXRotations = std::make_shared<FloatKeyMap>();
         mYRotations = std::make_shared<FloatKeyMap>();
         mZRotations = std::make_shared<FloatKeyMap>();
-        mXRotations->read(nif, true);
-        mYRotations->read(nif, true);
-        mZRotations->read(nif, true);
+        mXRotations->read(nif);
+        mYRotations->read(nif);
+        mZRotations->read(nif);
     }
     mTranslations = std::make_shared<Vector3KeyMap>();
     mTranslations->read(nif);
diff --git a/components/nif/nifkey.hpp b/components/nif/nifkey.hpp
index 91869ff849..f1b4f94d00 100644
--- a/components/nif/nifkey.hpp
+++ b/components/nif/nifkey.hpp
@@ -48,92 +48,71 @@ struct KeyMapT {
     using ValueType = T;
     using KeyType = KeyT<T>;
 
-    unsigned int mInterpolationType = InterpolationType_Linear;
+    unsigned int mInterpolationType = InterpolationType_Unknown;
     MapType mKeys;
 
     //Read in a KeyGroup (see http://niftools.sourceforge.net/doc/nif/NiKeyframeData.html)
-    void read(NIFStream *nif, bool force = false, bool morph = false)
+    void read(NIFStream *nif, bool morph = false)
     {
         assert(nif);
 
-        mInterpolationType = InterpolationType_Unknown;
-
         if (morph && nif->getVersion() >= NIFStream::generateVersion(10,1,0,106))
             nif->getString(); // Frame name
 
         size_t count = nif->getUInt();
-        if (count == 0 && !force && !morph)
-            return;
+
+        if (count != 0 || morph)
+            mInterpolationType = nif->getUInt();
+
+        KeyType key = {};
+
+        if (mInterpolationType == InterpolationType_Linear || mInterpolationType == InterpolationType_Constant)
+        {
+            for (size_t i = 0;i < count;i++)
+            {
+                float time = nif->getFloat();
+                readValue(*nif, key);
+                mKeys[time] = key;
+            }
+        }
+        else if (mInterpolationType == InterpolationType_Quadratic)
+        {
+            for (size_t i = 0;i < count;i++)
+            {
+                float time = nif->getFloat();
+                readQuadratic(*nif, key);
+                mKeys[time] = key;
+            }
+        }
+        else if (mInterpolationType == InterpolationType_TBC)
+        {
+            for (size_t i = 0;i < count;i++)
+            {
+                float time = nif->getFloat();
+                readTBC(*nif, key);
+                mKeys[time] = key;
+            }
+        }
+        else if (mInterpolationType == InterpolationType_XYZ)
+        {
+            //XYZ keys aren't actually read here.
+            //data.cpp sees that the last type read was InterpolationType_XYZ and:
+            //    Eats a floating point number, then
+            //    Re-runs the read function 3 more times.
+            //        When it does that it's reading in a bunch of InterpolationType_Linear keys, not InterpolationType_XYZ.
+        }
+        else if (count != 0 || morph)
+        {
+            std::stringstream error;
+            error << "Unhandled interpolation type: " << mInterpolationType;
+            nif->file->fail(error.str());
+        }
 
         if (morph && nif->getVersion() > NIFStream::generateVersion(10,1,0,0))
         {
             if (nif->getVersion() >= NIFStream::generateVersion(10,1,0,104) &&
                 nif->getVersion() <= NIFStream::generateVersion(20,1,0,2) && nif->getBethVersion() < 10)
                 nif->getFloat(); // Legacy weight
-            return;
-        }
-
-        mKeys.clear();
-
-        mInterpolationType = nif->getUInt();
-
-        KeyType key = {};
-        NIFStream &nifReference = *nif;
-
-        if (mInterpolationType == InterpolationType_Linear
-         || mInterpolationType == InterpolationType_Constant)
-        {
-            for(size_t i = 0;i < count;i++)
-            {
-                float time = nif->getFloat();
-                readValue(nifReference, key);
-                mKeys[time] = key;
-            }
-        }
-        else if (mInterpolationType == InterpolationType_Quadratic)
-        {
-            for(size_t i = 0;i < count;i++)
-            {
-                float time = nif->getFloat();
-                readQuadratic(nifReference, key);
-                mKeys[time] = key;
-            }
-        }
-        else if (mInterpolationType == InterpolationType_TBC)
-        {
-            for(size_t i = 0;i < count;i++)
-            {
-                float time = nif->getFloat();
-                readTBC(nifReference, key);
-                mKeys[time] = key;
-            }
-        }
-        //XYZ keys aren't actually read here.
-        //data.hpp sees that the last type read was InterpolationType_XYZ and:
-        //    Eats a floating point number, then
-        //    Re-runs the read function 3 more times.
-        //        When it does that it's reading in a bunch of InterpolationType_Linear keys, not InterpolationType_XYZ.
-        else if(mInterpolationType == InterpolationType_XYZ)
-        {
-            //Don't try to read XYZ keys into the wrong part
-            if ( count != 1 )
-            {
-                std::stringstream error;
-                error << "XYZ_ROTATION_KEY count should always be '1' .  Retrieved Value: "
-                      << count;
-                nif->file->fail(error.str());
-            }
-        }
-        else if (mInterpolationType == InterpolationType_Unknown)
-        {
-            if (count != 0)
-                nif->file->fail("Interpolation type 0 doesn't work with keys");
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            std::stringstream error;
-            error << "Unhandled interpolation type: " << mInterpolationType;
-            nif->file->fail(error.str());
         }
     }