diff --git a/reactos/base/shell/explorer/utility/xmlstorage.h b/reactos/base/shell/explorer/utility/xmlstorage.h
index 7e8eb69101c..ea70d8fdd09 100644
--- a/reactos/base/shell/explorer/utility/xmlstorage.h
+++ b/reactos/base/shell/explorer/utility/xmlstorage.h
@@ -516,25 +516,41 @@ extern XS_String DecodeXMLString(const std::string& str);
  /// base class for XMLStorage::tifstream and XMLStorage::tofstream
 struct FileHolder
 {
-	FileHolder(LPCTSTR path, LPCTSTR mode)
+protected:
+	FileHolder()
 	{
-//@@ _MS_VER: temporarily needed for the ReactOS build environment
-#if defined(__STDC_WANT_SECURE_LIB__) && defined(_MS_VER)	// secure CRT functions using VS 2005
-		if (_tfopen_s(&_pfile, path, mode) != 0)
-			_pfile = NULL;
-#else
-		_pfile = _tfopen(path, mode);
-#endif
 	}
 
 	~FileHolder()
 	{
 		if (_pfile)
 			fclose(_pfile);
+		delete _buf;
 	}
 
-protected:
-	FILE*	_pfile;
+	FILE_FILEBUF* init_buf(LPCTSTR path, std::ios_base::openmode mode)
+	{
+		PCTSTR modestr = mode == std::ios::in ? TEXT("rb") : TEXT("wb");
+//@@ _MS_VER: temporarily needed for the ReactOS build environment
+#if defined(__STDC_WANT_SECURE_LIB__) && defined(_MS_VER)	// secure CRT functions using VS 2005
+		if (_tfopen_s(&_pfile, path, modestr) != 0)
+			_pfile = NULL;
+#else
+		_pfile = _tfopen(path, modestr);
+#endif
+
+#ifdef __GNUC__
+		_buf = new FILE_FILEBUF(_pfile, mode);
+#else
+		_buf = new FILE_FILEBUF;
+		if (_pfile)
+			_buf->open(_pfile, mode);
+#endif
+		return _buf;
+	}
+
+	FILE*			_pfile;
+	FILE_FILEBUF*	_buf;
 };
 
  /// input file stream with ANSI/UNICODE file names
@@ -543,24 +559,11 @@ struct tifstream : public std::istream, FileHolder
 	typedef std::istream super;
 
 	tifstream(LPCTSTR path)
-	 :	super(&_buf),
-		FileHolder(path, TEXT("rb")),	// binary mode is important for XMLReader::read_buffer() with MinGW libraries
-#ifdef __GNUC__
-		_buf(_pfile, std::ios::in)
-#else
-		_buf()
-#endif
+	 :	super(init_buf(path, std::ios::in))
 	{
 		if (!_pfile)
 			setstate(badbit);
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
-		else
-			_buf.open(fileno(_pfile));
-#endif
 	}
-
-protected:
-	FILE_FILEBUF _buf;
 };
 
  /// output file stream with ANSI/UNICODE file names
@@ -569,29 +572,16 @@ struct tofstream : public std::ostream, FileHolder
 	typedef std::ostream super;
 
 	tofstream(LPCTSTR path)
-	 :	super(&_buf),
-		FileHolder(path, TEXT("wb")),
-#ifdef __GNUC__
-		_buf(_pfile, std::ios::out)
-#else
-		_buf()
-#endif
+	 :	super(init_buf(path, std::ios::out))
 	{
 		if (!_pfile)
 			setstate(badbit);
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
-		else
-			_buf.open(fileno(_pfile));
-#endif
 	}
 
 	~tofstream()
 	{
 		flush();
 	}
-
-protected:
-	FILE_FILEBUF _buf;
 };
 
 #else // FILE_FILEBUF
diff --git a/reactos/include/c++/stlport/stl/_fstream.h b/reactos/include/c++/stlport/stl/_fstream.h
index 1945e411884..1249e956e26 100644
--- a/reactos/include/c++/stlport/stl/_fstream.h
+++ b/reactos/include/c++/stlport/stl/_fstream.h
@@ -59,6 +59,9 @@ public:                      // Opening and closing files.
   bool _M_open(const char*, ios_base::openmode, long __protection);
   bool _M_open(const char*, ios_base::openmode);
   bool _M_open(int __id, ios_base::openmode = ios_base::__default_mode);
+#if defined (_STLP_USE_STDIO_IO)
+  bool _M_open(FILE *file, ios_base::openmode = ios_base::__default_mode);
+#endif /* _STLP_USE_STDIO_IO */
 #if defined (_STLP_USE_WIN32_IO)
   bool _M_open(_STLP_fd __id, ios_base::openmode = ios_base::__default_mode);
 #endif /* _STLP_USE_WIN32_IO */
@@ -182,6 +185,12 @@ public:                         // Opening and closing files.
     return this->_M_open(__id, _Init_mode);
   }
 
+#  if defined (_STLP_USE_STDIO_IO)
+  _Self* open(FILE *file, ios_base::openmode _Init_mode = ios_base::__default_mode) {
+    return _M_base._M_open(file, _Init_mode) ? this : 0;
+  }
+#  endif /* _STLP_USE_STDIO_IO */
+
 #  if defined (_STLP_USE_WIN32_IO)
   _Self* open(_STLP_fd __id, ios_base::openmode _Init_mode = ios_base::__default_mode) {
     return _M_base._M_open(__id, _Init_mode) ? this : 0;
diff --git a/reactos/lib/3rdparty/stlport/src/details/fstream_stdio.cpp b/reactos/lib/3rdparty/stlport/src/details/fstream_stdio.cpp
index 8392ffdebc9..ea37a2e5d93 100644
--- a/reactos/lib/3rdparty/stlport/src/details/fstream_stdio.cpp
+++ b/reactos/lib/3rdparty/stlport/src/details/fstream_stdio.cpp
@@ -300,6 +300,41 @@ bool _Filebuf_base::_M_open( int file_no, ios_base::openmode )
   return true;
 }
 
+bool _Filebuf_base::_M_open(FILE *file, ios_base::openmode openmode)
+{
+  _STLP_fd file_no;
+
+  if (_M_is_open)
+    return false;
+
+  _M_file = file;
+
+  if (_M_file) {
+    file_no = fileno(_M_file);
+  } else {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  // unset buffering immediately
+  setbuf(_M_file, 0);
+
+  _M_is_open = true;
+
+  if (openmode & ios_base::ate) {
+    if (FSEEK(_M_file, 0, SEEK_END) != 0)
+      _M_is_open = false;
+  }
+
+  _M_file_id = file_no;
+  _M_should_close = _M_is_open;
+  _M_openmode = openmode;
+
+  if (_M_is_open)
+    _M_regular_file = _STLP_PRIV __is_regular_file(_M_file_id);
+
+  return (_M_is_open != 0);
+}
+
 bool _Filebuf_base::_M_close()
 {
   if (!_M_is_open)