diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 223f19bfdf..f4b1d39512 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
+2007-10-09  Tim-Philipp Müller  <tim at centricular dot net>
+
+	* gst/gstplugin.c:
+	* gst/gstplugin.h:
+	* gst/gstregistrybinary.c:
+	* gst/gstregistryxml.c:
+	  Put more strings into the GLib quark table. No need to keep
+	  a hundred-something copies of identical version strings,
+	  license strings, package name strings and package origin
+	  strings around. 
+
 2007-10-09  Tim-Philipp Müller  <tim at centricular dot net>
 
 	* docs/manual/advanced-dataaccess.xml:
diff --git a/gst/gstplugin.c b/gst/gstplugin.c
index a0d25b0b6d..bd43f4bc88 100644
--- a/gst/gstplugin.c
+++ b/gst/gstplugin.c
@@ -495,28 +495,22 @@ gst_plugin_desc_copy (GstPluginDesc * dest, const GstPluginDesc * src)
 {
   dest->major_version = src->major_version;
   dest->minor_version = src->minor_version;
-  dest->name = g_strdup (src->name);
+  dest->name = g_intern_string (src->name);
+  /* maybe intern the description too, just for convenience? */
   dest->description = g_strdup (src->description);
   dest->plugin_init = src->plugin_init;
-  dest->version = g_strdup (src->version);
-  dest->license = g_strdup (src->license);
-  dest->source = g_strdup (src->source);
-  dest->package = g_strdup (src->package);
-  dest->origin = g_strdup (src->origin);
+  dest->version = g_intern_string (src->version);
+  dest->license = g_intern_string (src->license);
+  dest->source = g_intern_string (src->source);
+  dest->package = g_intern_string (src->package);
+  dest->origin = g_intern_string (src->origin);
 }
 
 /* unused */
 static void
 gst_plugin_desc_free (GstPluginDesc * desc)
 {
-  g_free (desc->name);
   g_free (desc->description);
-  g_free (desc->version);
-  g_free (desc->license);
-  g_free (desc->source);
-  g_free (desc->package);
-  g_free (desc->origin);
-
   memset (desc, 0, sizeof (GstPluginDesc));
 }
 
diff --git a/gst/gstplugin.h b/gst/gstplugin.h
index c1b14966be..cfc28f6f29 100644
--- a/gst/gstplugin.h
+++ b/gst/gstplugin.h
@@ -110,14 +110,14 @@ typedef gboolean (*GstPluginInitFunc) (GstPlugin *plugin);
 struct _GstPluginDesc {
   gint major_version;
   gint minor_version;
-  gchar *name;
+  const gchar *name;
   gchar *description;
   GstPluginInitFunc plugin_init;
-  gchar *version;
-  gchar *license;
-  gchar *source;
-  gchar *package;
-  gchar *origin;
+  const gchar *version;
+  const gchar *license;
+  const gchar *source;
+  const gchar *package;
+  const gchar *origin;
 
   gpointer _gst_reserved[GST_PADDING];
 };
diff --git a/gst/gstregistrybinary.c b/gst/gstregistrybinary.c
index 6fd74b5398..ad59971738 100644
--- a/gst/gstregistrybinary.c
+++ b/gst/gstregistrybinary.c
@@ -823,14 +823,14 @@ gst_registry_binary_load_plugin (GstRegistry * registry, gchar ** in)
   plugin->file_size = pe->file_size;
 
   /* unpack plugin element strings */
-  unpack_string (*in, plugin->desc.name);
+  unpack_const_string (*in, plugin->desc.name);
   unpack_string (*in, plugin->desc.description);
   unpack_string (*in, plugin->filename);
-  unpack_string (*in, plugin->desc.version);
-  unpack_string (*in, plugin->desc.license);
-  unpack_string (*in, plugin->desc.source);
-  unpack_string (*in, plugin->desc.package);
-  unpack_string (*in, plugin->desc.origin);
+  unpack_const_string (*in, plugin->desc.version);
+  unpack_const_string (*in, plugin->desc.license);
+  unpack_const_string (*in, plugin->desc.source);
+  unpack_const_string (*in, plugin->desc.package);
+  unpack_const_string (*in, plugin->desc.origin);
   GST_LOG ("read strings for '%s'", plugin->desc.name);
 
   plugin->basename = g_path_get_basename (plugin->filename);
diff --git a/gst/gstregistryxml.c b/gst/gstregistryxml.c
index b9bfa40506..75a1e6e1c7 100644
--- a/gst/gstregistryxml.c
+++ b/gst/gstregistryxml.c
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ load_plugin (xmlTextReaderPtr reader, GList ** feature_list)
       if (g_str_equal (tag, "name")) {
         int ret;
 
-        ret = read_string (reader, &plugin->desc.name, FALSE);
+        ret = read_const_interned_string (reader, &plugin->desc.name, FALSE);
         GST_LOG ("name ret=%d, name=%s", ret, plugin->desc.name);
         if (!ret)
           break;
@@ -422,31 +422,31 @@ load_plugin (xmlTextReaderPtr reader, GList ** feature_list)
         GST_LOG ("filename %s", plugin->filename);
         plugin->basename = g_path_get_basename (plugin->filename);
       } else if (g_str_equal (tag, "version")) {
-        if (!read_string (reader, &plugin->desc.version, TRUE)) {
+        if (!read_const_interned_string (reader, &plugin->desc.version, TRUE)) {
           GST_WARNING ("version field was invalid in registry");
           break;
         }
         GST_LOG ("version %s", plugin->desc.version);
       } else if (g_str_equal (tag, "license")) {
-        if (!read_string (reader, &plugin->desc.license, TRUE)) {
+        if (!read_const_interned_string (reader, &plugin->desc.license, TRUE)) {
           GST_WARNING ("license field was invalid in registry");
           break;
         }
         GST_LOG ("license %s", plugin->desc.license);
       } else if (g_str_equal (tag, "source")) {
-        if (!read_string (reader, &plugin->desc.source, TRUE)) {
+        if (!read_const_interned_string (reader, &plugin->desc.source, TRUE)) {
           GST_WARNING ("source field was invalid in registry");
           break;
         }
         GST_LOG ("source %s", plugin->desc.source);
       } else if (g_str_equal (tag, "package")) {
-        if (!read_string (reader, &plugin->desc.package, TRUE)) {
+        if (!read_const_interned_string (reader, &plugin->desc.package, TRUE)) {
           GST_WARNING ("package field was invalid in registry");
           break;
         }
         GST_LOG ("package %s", plugin->desc.package);
       } else if (g_str_equal (tag, "origin")) {
-        if (!read_string (reader, &plugin->desc.origin, TRUE)) {
+        if (!read_const_interned_string (reader, &plugin->desc.origin, TRUE)) {
           GST_WARNING ("failed to read origin");
           break;
         }