diff --git a/log4j-api/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/util/LoaderUtil.java b/log4j-api/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/util/LoaderUtil.java
index 2553e13..e0797a7 100644
--- a/log4j-api/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/util/LoaderUtil.java
+++ b/log4j-api/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/util/LoaderUtil.java
@@ -141,10 +141,23 @@
             return Class.forName(className);
         }
     }
 
     /**
+     * Loads a class by name using a given ClassLoader. Does NOT initialize Class.
+     *
+     * @param className The class name.
+     * @param loader The class loader.
+     * @return The class, or null if loader is null.
+     * @throws ClassNotFoundException if the class could not be found.
+     */
+    public static Class<?> loadClass(final String className, final ClassLoader loader)
+            throws ClassNotFoundException {
+        return loader!=null ? loader.loadClass(className) : null;
+    }   
+    
+    /**
      * Loads and instantiates a Class using the default constructor.
      *
      * @param clazz The class.
      * @return new instance of the class.
      * @throws IllegalAccessException if the class can't be instantiated through a public constructor
diff --git a/log4j-api/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/util/LoaderUtilTest.java b/log4j-api/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/util/LoaderUtilTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dfa4106
--- /dev/null
+++ b/log4j-api/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/util/LoaderUtilTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache license, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the license for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the license.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.logging.log4j.util;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ * Tests the Loader class.
+ */
+public class LoaderUtilTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testLoadClassWithNullClassloaderReturnNull() throws Exception
+    {
+    	assertNull("Expect null return value for null ClassLoader.", LoaderUtil.loadClass(LoaderUtil.class.getCanonicalName(), null));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testLoadClassReturnClassForExistingClass() throws Exception
+    {
+    	assertEquals("Expect Class return value for null ClassLoader.", LoaderUtil.class,LoaderUtil.loadClass(LoaderUtil.class.getCanonicalName(), LoaderUtil.class.getClassLoader()));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/impl/ThrowableProxy.java b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/impl/ThrowableProxy.java
index e12e14a..5bf3c70 100644
--- a/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/impl/ThrowableProxy.java
+++ b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/impl/ThrowableProxy.java
@@ -554,11 +554,11 @@
         return clazz;
     }
 
     private Class<?> loadClass(final String className) {
         try {
-            return this.getClass().getClassLoader().loadClass(className);
+            return LoaderUtil.loadClass(className,this.getClass().getClassLoader());
         } catch (final ClassNotFoundException | NoClassDefFoundError | SecurityException e) {
             return null;
         }
     }