diff --git a/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp b/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp
index 6cf355aeaa9..180b8955906 100644
--- a/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp
@@ -2165,9 +2165,12 @@ void QCoreApplicationPrivate::quit()
     generated by \QD provide a \c retranslateUi() function that can be
     called.
 
-    The function returns \c true on success and false on failure.
+    The function returns \c true on success and \c false on failure.
 
     \note QCoreApplication does \e not take ownership of \a translationFile.
+    It is the responsibility of the application to ensure that, if the
+    function returned \c true, the \a translationFile object is alive until
+    either \l removeTranslator() is called for it, or the application exits.
 
     \sa removeTranslator(), translate(), QTranslator::load(),
         {Writing Source Code for Translation#Prepare for Dynamic Language Changes}{Prepare for Dynamic Language Changes}
@@ -2180,16 +2183,15 @@ bool QCoreApplication::installTranslator(QTranslator *translationFile)
 
     if (!QCoreApplicationPrivate::checkInstance("installTranslator"))
         return false;
+
     QCoreApplicationPrivate *d = self->d_func();
     {
         QWriteLocker locker(&d->translateMutex);
         d->translators.prepend(translationFile);
     }
 
-#ifndef QT_NO_TRANSLATION_BUILDER
     if (translationFile->isEmpty())
-        return false;
-#endif
+        return true;
 
 #ifndef QT_NO_QOBJECT
     QEvent ev(QEvent::LanguageChange);
diff --git a/tests/auto/corelib/kernel/qtranslator/tst_qtranslator.cpp b/tests/auto/corelib/kernel/qtranslator/tst_qtranslator.cpp
index eedf59a7c99..66dcac85f6b 100644
--- a/tests/auto/corelib/kernel/qtranslator/tst_qtranslator.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/corelib/kernel/qtranslator/tst_qtranslator.cpp
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ private slots:
     void loadLocale_data();
     void loadLocale();
     void threadLoad();
+    void install();
     void testLanguageChange();
     void plural();
     void translate_qm_file_generated_with_msgfmt();
@@ -285,6 +286,30 @@ void tst_QTranslator::threadLoad()
     QVERIFY(thread.wait(10 * 1000));
 }
 
+void tst_QTranslator::install()
+{
+    {
+        // normal translation
+        QTranslator tor;
+        QVERIFY(tor.load("hellotr_la.qm"));
+        QCOMPARE(qApp->installTranslator(&tor), true);
+        QCOMPARE(qApp->removeTranslator(&tor), true);
+    }
+    {
+        // empty translation
+        QTranslator tor;
+        QVERIFY(tor.load("hellotr_empty.qm"));
+        QCOMPARE(qApp->installTranslator(&tor), true);
+        QCOMPARE(qApp->removeTranslator(&tor), true);
+    }
+    {
+        // nullptr
+        QCOMPARE(qApp->installTranslator(nullptr), false);
+        QCOMPARE(qApp->removeTranslator(nullptr), false);
+    }
+
+}
+
 void tst_QTranslator::testLanguageChange()
 {
     languageChangeEventCounter = 0;