diff --git a/src/registry.c b/src/registry.c
index 65c2ed1..dbaac2a 100644
--- a/src/registry.c
+++ b/src/registry.c
@@ -870,7 +870,8 @@ parse_variant(struct rxkb_context *ctx, struct rxkb_layout *l,
             v->name = strdup(l->name);
             v->variant = name;
             v->description = description;
-            v->brief = brief;
+            // if variant omits brief, inherit from parent layout.
+            v->brief = brief == NULL ? strdup_safe(l->brief) : brief;
             v->popularity = popularity;
             list_append(&ctx->layouts, &v->base.link);
 
@@ -880,11 +881,35 @@ parse_variant(struct rxkb_context *ctx, struct rxkb_layout *l,
                 if (!is_node(ci, "configItem"))
                     continue;
 
+                bool found_language_list = false;
+                bool found_country_list = false;
                 for (node = ci->children; node; node = node->next) {
-                    if (is_node(node, "languageList"))
+                    if (is_node(node, "languageList")) {
                         parse_language_list(node, v);
-                    if (is_node(node, "countryList"))
+                        found_language_list = true;
+                    }
+                    if (is_node(node, "countryList")) {
                         parse_country_list(node, v);
+                        found_country_list = true;
+                    }
+                }
+                if (!found_language_list) {
+                    // inherit from parent layout
+                    struct rxkb_iso639_code* x;
+                    list_for_each(x, &l->iso639s, base.link) {
+                        struct rxkb_iso639_code* code = rxkb_iso639_code_create(&v->base);
+                        code->code = strdup(x->code);
+                        list_append(&v->iso639s, &code->base.link);
+                    }
+                }
+                if (!found_country_list) {
+                    // inherit from parent layout
+                    struct rxkb_iso3166_code* x;
+                    list_for_each(x, &l->iso3166s, base.link) {
+                        struct rxkb_iso3166_code* code = rxkb_iso3166_code_create(&v->base);
+                        code->code = strdup(x->code);
+                        list_append(&v->iso3166s, &code->base.link);
+                    }
                 }
             }
         } else {
diff --git a/test/registry.c b/test/registry.c
index 85a5b6e..54313ba 100644
--- a/test/registry.c
+++ b/test/registry.c
@@ -620,6 +620,7 @@ test_load_full(void)
     struct test_layout system_layouts[] =  {
         {"l1", NO_VARIANT, "lbrief1", "ldesc1"},
         {"l1", "v1", "vbrief1", "vdesc1"},
+        {"l1", "v2", NULL, "vdesc2"},
         {NULL},
     };
     struct test_option_group system_groups[] = {
@@ -654,6 +655,11 @@ test_load_full(void)
     assert(cmp_layouts(&system_layouts[1], l));
     rxkb_layout_unref(l);
 
+    l = fetch_layout(ctx, "l1", "v2");
+    struct test_layout expected = {"l1", "v2", "lbrief1", "vdesc2"};
+    assert(cmp_layouts(&expected, l));
+    rxkb_layout_unref(l);
+
     g = fetch_option_group(ctx, "grp1");
     assert(cmp_option_groups(&system_groups[0], g, CMP_EXACT));
     rxkb_option_group_unref(g);