diff --git a/importexport/musicxml/importmxmlpass1.cpp b/importexport/musicxml/importmxmlpass1.cpp
index ac06c2bf877c8..f33bc26336752 100644
--- a/importexport/musicxml/importmxmlpass1.cpp
+++ b/importexport/musicxml/importmxmlpass1.cpp
@@ -2009,6 +2009,11 @@ void MusicXMLParserPass1::scoreInstrument(const QString& partId)
                   if (_instruments[partId].contains(instrId))
                         _instruments[partId][instrId].name = instrName;
                   }
+            else if (_e.name() == "instrument-abbreviation") {
+                  QString abbreviation = _e.readElementText();
+                  if (_instruments[partId].contains(instrId))
+                        _instruments[partId][instrId].abbreviation = abbreviation;
+                  }
             else if (_e.name() == "instrument-sound") {
                   QString instrSound = _e.readElementText();
                   if (_instruments[partId].contains(instrId))
diff --git a/importexport/musicxml/importmxmlpass2.cpp b/importexport/musicxml/importmxmlpass2.cpp
index 5d349aaf93667..8b147ad78964a 100644
--- a/importexport/musicxml/importmxmlpass2.cpp
+++ b/importexport/musicxml/importmxmlpass2.cpp
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ static Instrument createInstrument(const MusicXMLInstrument& mxmlInstr, const In
       }
 
       if (!it) {
-          it = Ms::searchTemplateForInstrNameList({mxmlInstr.name});
+          it = Ms::searchTemplateForInstrNameList({mxmlInstr.name, mxmlInstr.abbreviation});
       }
 
       if (!it) {
diff --git a/importexport/musicxml/musicxmlsupport.h b/importexport/musicxml/musicxmlsupport.h
index 438626e614480..d0378a6a20d7e 100644
--- a/importexport/musicxml/musicxmlsupport.h
+++ b/importexport/musicxml/musicxmlsupport.h
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ struct MusicXMLInstrument {
       int unpitched;                   // midi-unpitched read from MusicXML
       QString name;                    // instrument-name read from MusicXML
       QString sound;                   // instrument-sound read from MusicXML
+      QString abbreviation;            // instrument-abbreviation read from MusicXML
       QString virtLib;                 // virtual-library read from MusicXML
       QString virtName;                // virtual-name read from MusicXML
       int midiChannel;                 // midi-channel read from MusicXML
diff --git a/libmscore/instrtemplate.cpp b/libmscore/instrtemplate.cpp
index 09113cb011e7e..4d3876e34d3f8 100644
--- a/libmscore/instrtemplate.cpp
+++ b/libmscore/instrtemplate.cpp
@@ -756,6 +756,9 @@ InstrumentTemplate* searchTemplateForInstrNameList(const QList<QString>& nameLis
       for (InstrumentGroup* g : qAsConst(instrumentGroups)) {
             for (InstrumentTemplate* it : qAsConst(g->instrumentTemplates)) {
                   for (const QString& name : nameList) {
+                        if (name.isEmpty())
+                              continue;
+
                         if (it->trackName == name ||
                             it->longNames.contains(StaffName(name)) ||
                             it->shortNames.contains(StaffName(name)))