diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/tblcoll.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/tblcoll.cpp
index 7a8f8b19f83..2dffe5f9a66 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/tblcoll.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/tblcoll.cpp
@@ -321,21 +321,13 @@ void RuleBasedCollator::getRules(UColRuleOption delta, UnicodeString &buffer)
     }
 }
 
-UnicodeSet 
+UnicodeSet *
 RuleBasedCollator::getTailoredSet(UErrorCode &status) const
 {
   if(U_FAILURE(status)) {
-    return UnicodeSet();
-  }
-  USet *set = ucol_getTailoredSet(this->ucollator, &status);
-  if(U_SUCCESS(status)) {
-    UnicodeSet result(*(const UnicodeSet *)set);
-    UnicodeString pattern;
-    uset_close(set);
-    return result;
-  } else {
-    return UnicodeSet();
+    return NULL;
   }
+  return (UnicodeSet *)ucol_getTailoredSet(this->ucollator, &status);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/ucol.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/ucol.cpp
index ede292d5376..506217aeba3 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/ucol.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/ucol.cpp
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include "unicode/unorm.h"
 #include "unicode/udata.h"
 #include "unicode/uchar.h"
+#include "unicode/caniter.h"
 
 #include "ucol_bld.h"
 #include "ucol_imp.h"
@@ -6729,17 +6730,33 @@ ucol_getTailoredSet(const UCollator *coll, UErrorCode *status)
   const UChar *rules = ucol_getRules(coll, &rulesLen);
   const UChar *current = NULL;
   UBool startOfRules = TRUE;
-  USet *tailored = uset_open(1, 0);
+  // we internally use the C++ class, for the following reasons:
+  // 1. we need to utilize canonical iterator, which is a C++ only class
+  // 2. canonical iterator returns UnicodeStrings - USet cannot take them
+  // 3. USet is internally really UnicodeSet, C is just a wrapper
+  UnicodeSet *tailored = new UnicodeSet();
   UnicodeString pattern;
+  CanonicalIterator it("", *status);
 
+
+  // The idea is to tokenize the rule set. For each non-reset token,
+  // we add all the canonicaly equivalent FCD sequences 
   ucol_tok_initTokenList(&src, rules, rulesLen, UCA, status);
   while ((current = ucol_tok_parseNextToken(&src, startOfRules, &parseError, status)) != NULL) {
     startOfRules = FALSE;
     if(src.parsedToken.strength != UCOL_TOK_RESET) {
       const UChar *stuff = src.source+(src.parsedToken.charsOffset);
-      uset_addString(tailored, stuff, src.parsedToken.charsLen);
+      it.setSource(UnicodeString(stuff, src.parsedToken.charsLen), *status);
+      pattern = it.next();
+      while(!pattern.isBogus()) {
+        if(Normalizer::quickCheck(pattern, UNORM_FCD, *status) != UNORM_NO) {
+          tailored->add(pattern);
+        }
+        pattern = it.next();
+      }
     }
   }
   ucol_tok_closeTokenList(&src);
-  return tailored;
+  return (USet *)tailored;
 }
+
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/coll.h b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/coll.h
index be8f21d808b..59e2d6cb09f 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/coll.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/coll.h
@@ -608,13 +608,15 @@ public:
   virtual uint32_t getVariableTop(UErrorCode &status) const = 0;
 
   /**
-   * Get an UnicodeSet that contains all the characters and sequences tailored in 
-   * this collator.
+   * Get an UnicodeSet that contains all the characters and sequences 
+   * tailored in this collator.
    * @param status      error code of the operation
-   * @return an UnicodeSet object containing all the tailored code points and sequences
+   * @return a pointer to a UnicodeSet object containing all the 
+   *         code points and sequences that may sort differently than
+   *         in the UCA. The object must be disposed of by using delete
    * @draft ICU 2.4
    */
-  virtual UnicodeSet getTailoredSet(UErrorCode &status) const;
+  virtual UnicodeSet *getTailoredSet(UErrorCode &status) const;
 
 
   /**
@@ -785,10 +787,13 @@ inline UBool Collator::operator!=(const Collator& other) const
   return (UBool)!(*this == other);
 }
 
-inline UnicodeSet Collator::getTailoredSet(UErrorCode &status) const
+inline UnicodeSet *Collator::getTailoredSet(UErrorCode &status) const
 {
-  status = U_UNSUPPORTED_ERROR;
-  return UnicodeSet();
+  if(U_FAILURE(status)) {
+    return NULL;
+  }
+  // everything can be changed
+  return new UnicodeSet(0, 0x10FFFF);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/tblcoll.h b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/tblcoll.h
index 795720def3b..43fc688a093 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/tblcoll.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/tblcoll.h
@@ -495,10 +495,12 @@ public:
    * Get an UnicodeSet that contains all the characters and sequences tailored in 
    * this collator.
    * @param status      error code of the operation
-   * @return an UnicodeSet object containing all the tailored code points and sequences
+   * @return a pointer to a UnicodeSet object containing all the 
+   *         code points and sequences that may sort differently than
+   *         in the UCA. The object must be disposed of by using delete
    * @draft ICU 2.4
    */
-  virtual UnicodeSet getTailoredSet(UErrorCode &status) const;
+  virtual UnicodeSet *getTailoredSet(UErrorCode &status) const;
 
   /**
    * Thread safe cloning operation.
diff --git a/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/capitst.c b/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/capitst.c
index 1e1c06c0d6b..dd4a42ea512 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/capitst.c
+++ b/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/capitst.c
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ void addCollAPITest(TestNode** root)
     addTest(root, &TestGetLocale, "tscoll/capitst/TestGetLocale");    
     addTest(root, &TestSortKeyBufferOverrun, "tscoll/capitst/TestSortKeyBufferOverrun");
     addTest(root, &TestAttribute, "tscoll/capitst/TestAttribute");
+    addTest(root, &TestGetTailoredSet, "tscoll/capitst/TestGetTailoredSet");
 
 }
 
@@ -1497,3 +1498,44 @@ static void TestAttribute()
 
     ucol_close(coll);
 }
+
+void TestGetTailoredSet() {
+  struct {
+    char *rules;
+    char *tests[20];
+    int32_t testsize;
+  } setTest[] = {
+    { "&a < \\u212b", { "\\u212b", "A\\u030a", "\\u00c5" }, 3},
+    { "& S < \\u0161 <<< \\u0160", { "\\u0161", "s\\u030C", "\\u0160", "S\\u030C" }, 4}
+  };
+
+  int32_t i = 0, j = 0;
+  UErrorCode status = U_ZERO_ERROR;
+  UParseError pError;
+
+  UCollator *coll = NULL;
+  UChar buff[1024];
+  int32_t buffLen = 0;
+  USet *set = NULL;
+
+  for(i = 0; i < sizeof(setTest)/sizeof(setTest[0]); i++) {
+    buffLen = u_unescape(setTest[i].rules, buff, 1024);
+    coll = ucol_openRules(buff, buffLen, UCOL_DEFAULT, UCOL_DEFAULT, &pError, &status);
+    if(U_SUCCESS(status)) {
+      set = ucol_getTailoredSet(coll, &status);
+      if(uset_size(set) != setTest[i].testsize) {
+        log_err("Tailored set size different (%d) than expected (%d)\n", uset_size(set), setTest[i].testsize);
+      }
+      for(j = 0; j < setTest[i].testsize; j++) {
+        buffLen = u_unescape(setTest[i].tests[j], buff, 1024);
+        if(!uset_containsString(set, buff, buffLen)) {
+          log_err("Tailored set doesn't contain %s... It should\n", setTest[i].tests[j]);
+        }
+      }
+      uset_close(set);
+    } else {
+      log_err("Couldn't open collator with rules %s\n", setTest[i].rules);
+    }
+    ucol_close(coll);
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/capitst.h b/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/capitst.h
index 2fe52e2d0b4..4b5df5b8f91 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/capitst.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/test/cintltst/capitst.h
@@ -86,5 +86,9 @@
      * Test getting and setting of attributes
      */
     void TestGetSetAttr(void);
+    /**
+     * Test getTailoredSet
+     */
+    void TestGetTailoredSet(void);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/icu4c/source/test/intltest/apicoll.cpp b/icu4c/source/test/intltest/apicoll.cpp
index b516f93ad1b..be81ad92de9 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/test/intltest/apicoll.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/test/intltest/apicoll.cpp
@@ -1661,6 +1661,47 @@ void CollationAPITest::TestBounds(void) {
     delete coll;
 }
 
+
+void CollationAPITest::TestGetTailoredSet() 
+{
+  struct {
+    char *rules;
+    char *tests[20];
+    int32_t testsize;
+  } setTest[] = {
+    { "&a < \\u212b", { "\\u212b", "A\\u030a", "\\u00c5" }, 3},
+    { "& S < \\u0161 <<< \\u0160", { "\\u0161", "s\\u030C", "\\u0160", "S\\u030C" }, 4}
+  };
+
+  int32_t i = 0, j = 0;
+  UErrorCode status = U_ZERO_ERROR;
+
+  RuleBasedCollator *coll = NULL;
+  UnicodeString buff;
+  UnicodeSet *set = NULL;
+
+  for(i = 0; i < sizeof(setTest)/sizeof(setTest[0]); i++) {
+    buff = UnicodeString(setTest[i].rules, "").unescape();
+    coll = new RuleBasedCollator(buff, status);
+    if(U_SUCCESS(status)) {
+      set = coll->getTailoredSet(status);
+      if(set->size() != setTest[i].testsize) {
+        errln("Tailored set size different (%d) than expected (%d)", set->size(), setTest[i].testsize);
+      }
+      for(j = 0; j < setTest[i].testsize; j++) {
+        buff = UnicodeString(setTest[i].tests[j], "").unescape();
+        if(!set->contains(buff)) {
+          errln("Tailored set doesn't contain %s... It should", setTest[i].tests[j]);
+        }
+      }
+      delete set;
+    } else {
+      errln("Couldn't open collator with rules %s\n", setTest[i].rules);
+    }
+    delete coll;
+  }
+}
+
 void CollationAPITest::runIndexedTest( int32_t index, UBool exec, const char* &name, char* /*par */)
 {
     if (exec) logln("TestSuite CollationAPITest: ");
@@ -1684,6 +1725,7 @@ void CollationAPITest::runIndexedTest( int32_t index, UBool exec, const char* &n
         case 16: name = "TestRules"; if (exec) TestRules(); break;
         case 17: name = "TestGetLocale"; if (exec) TestGetLocale(); break;
         case 18: name = "TestBounds"; if (exec) TestBounds(); break;
+        case 19: name = "TestGetTailoredSet"; if (exec) TestGetTailoredSet(); break;
         default: name = ""; break;
     }
 }
diff --git a/icu4c/source/test/intltest/apicoll.h b/icu4c/source/test/intltest/apicoll.h
index 6245dd1fbc0..7b8b8822972 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/test/intltest/apicoll.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/test/intltest/apicoll.h
@@ -140,6 +140,11 @@ public:
     */
     void TestBounds();
 
+    /**
+    * Tests getTailoredSet API
+    */
+    void TestGetTailoredSet();
+
 private:
     // If this is too small for the test data, just increase it.
     // Just don't make it too large, otherwise the executable will get too big