diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/type/descriptor/java/LocaleTypeDescriptor.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/type/descriptor/java/LocaleTypeDescriptor.java
index f1b0d40eafd2..75520f47062c 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/type/descriptor/java/LocaleTypeDescriptor.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/type/descriptor/java/LocaleTypeDescriptor.java
@@ -51,43 +51,33 @@ public Locale fromString(String string) {
 			return Locale.ROOT;
 		}
 
-		boolean separatorFound = false;
-		int position = 0;
-		char[] chars = string.toCharArray();
-
-		for ( int i = 0; i < chars.length; i++ ) {
-			// We just look for separators
-			if ( chars[i] == '_' ) {
-				if ( !separatorFound ) {
-					// On the first separator we know that we have at least a language
-					string = new String( chars, position, i - position );
-					position = i + 1;
-				}
-				else {
-					// On the second separator we have to check whether there are more chars available for variant
-					if ( chars.length > i + 1 ) {
-						// There is a variant so add it to the constructor
-						return new Locale( string, new String( chars, position, i - position ), new String( chars,
-								i + 1, chars.length - i - 1 ) );
+		Locale.Builder builder = new Locale.Builder();
+		String[] parts = string.split("_");
+
+		for (int i = 0; i < parts.length; i++) {
+			String s = parts[i];
+			switch (i) {
+				case 0:
+					builder.setLanguage(s);
+					break;
+				case 1:
+					builder.setRegion(s);
+					break;
+				case 2:
+					if (i < parts.length - 1 || !s.startsWith("#")) {
+						builder.setVariant(s);
+						break;
 					}
-					else {
-						// No variant given, we just have language and country
-						return new Locale( string, new String( chars, position, i - position ), "" );
+				case 3:
+					if (s.startsWith("#")) {
+						s = s.substring(1);
 					}
-				}
-
-				separatorFound = true;
+					builder.setScript(s);
+					break;
 			}
 		}
 
-		if ( !separatorFound ) {
-			// No separator found, there is only a language
-			return new Locale( string );
-		}
-		else {
-			// Only one separator found, there is a language and a country
-			return new Locale( string, new String( chars, position, chars.length - position ) );
-		}
+		return builder.build();
 	}
 
 	@SuppressWarnings({ "unchecked" })
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/type/descriptor/java/LocaleTypeDescriptorTest.java b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/type/descriptor/java/LocaleTypeDescriptorTest.java
index ee2e63dd2502..ae98a3d7d5d0 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/type/descriptor/java/LocaleTypeDescriptorTest.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/type/descriptor/java/LocaleTypeDescriptorTest.java
@@ -25,18 +25,19 @@ public class LocaleTypeDescriptorTest extends BaseUnitTestCase {
 
 	@Test
 	public void testConversionFromString() {
-		assertEquals( toLocale( "de", null, null ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "de" ) );
-		assertEquals( toLocale( "de", "DE", null ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "de_DE" ) );
-		assertEquals( toLocale( null, "DE", null ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "_DE" ) );
-		assertEquals( toLocale( null, null, "ch123" ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "__ch123" ) );
-		assertEquals( toLocale( null, "DE", "ch123" ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "_DE_ch123" ) );
-		assertEquals( toLocale( "de", null, "ch123" ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "de__ch123" ) );
-		assertEquals( toLocale( "de", "DE", "ch123" ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "de_DE_ch123" ) );
-		assertEquals( toLocale( "", "", "" ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "" ) );
+		assertEquals( toLocale( "de", null, null, null ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "de" ) );
+		assertEquals( toLocale( "de", "DE", null, null ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "de_DE" ) );
+		assertEquals( toLocale( null, "DE", null, null ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "_DE" ) );
+		assertEquals( toLocale( null, null, "ch123", null ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "__ch123" ) );
+		assertEquals( toLocale( null, "DE", "ch123", null ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "_DE_ch123" ) );
+		assertEquals( toLocale( "de", null, "ch123", null ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "de__ch123" ) );
+		assertEquals( toLocale( "de", "DE", "ch123", null ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "de_DE_ch123" ) );
+		assertEquals( toLocale( "zh", "HK", null, "Hant"), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "zh_HK_#Hant" ) );
+		assertEquals( toLocale( "", "", "", null ), LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "" ) );
 		assertEquals( Locale.ROOT, LocaleTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE.fromString( "" ) );
 	}
 
-	public Locale toLocale(String lang, String region, String variant) {
+	public Locale toLocale(String lang, String region, String variant, String script) {
 		final Locale.Builder builder = new Locale.Builder();
 		if ( StringHelper.isNotEmpty( lang ) ) {
 			builder.setLanguage( lang );
@@ -47,6 +48,9 @@ public Locale toLocale(String lang, String region, String variant) {
 		if ( StringHelper.isNotEmpty( variant ) ) {
 			builder.setVariant( variant );
 		}
+		if ( StringHelper.isNotEmpty( script ) ) {
+			builder.setScript( script );
+		}
 		return builder.build();
 	}
 }