Index: wp-includes/theme.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/theme.php	(revision 13200)
+++ wp-includes/theme.php	(working copy)
@@ -975,7 +975,7 @@
  *
  * @param array $template_names Array of template files to search for in priority order.
  * @param bool $load If true the template file will be loaded if it is found.
- * @return string The template filename if one is located.
+ * @return string The template filename if one is located, empty string if none is located
  */
 function locate_template($template_names, $load = false) {
 	if ( !is_array($template_names) )
@@ -1009,13 +1009,16 @@
  *
  * @param string $_template_file Path to template file.
  */
-function load_template($_template_file) {
+function load_template( $_template_file ) {
 	global $posts, $post, $wp_did_header, $wp_did_template_redirect, $wp_query, $wp_rewrite, $wpdb, $wp_version, $wp, $id, $comment, $user_ID;
 
 	if ( is_array($wp_query->query_vars) )
 		extract($wp_query->query_vars, EXTR_SKIP);
 
-	require_once($_template_file);
+	if ( $_template_file = apply_filters( 'template_load', $_template_file ) ) {
+		include( $_template_file );
+		do_action( 'template_loaded', $_template_file );
+	}
 }
 
 /**