diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/uspoof.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/uspoof.cpp
index b7f47ba6caf..551ba03d3a4 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/uspoof.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/uspoof.cpp
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ U_NAMESPACE_USE
 static UnicodeSet *gInclusionSet = NULL;
 static UnicodeSet *gRecommendedSet = NULL;
 static const Normalizer2 *gNfdNormalizer = NULL;
+static SpoofData *gDefaultSpoofData = NULL;
 static UInitOnce gSpoofInitOnce = U_INITONCE_INITIALIZER;
-
 static UBool U_CALLCONV
 uspoof_cleanup(void) {
     delete gInclusionSet;
@@ -49,6 +49,10 @@ uspoof_cleanup(void) {
     delete gRecommendedSet;
     gRecommendedSet = NULL;
     gNfdNormalizer = NULL;
+    if (gDefaultSpoofData) {
+        gDefaultSpoofData->removeReference();   // Will delete, assuming all user-level spoof checkers were closed.
+    }
+    gDefaultSpoofData = NULL;
     gSpoofInitOnce.reset();
     return TRUE;
 }
@@ -125,17 +129,24 @@ static void U_CALLCONV initializeStatics(UErrorCode &status) {
     gRecommendedSet = new UnicodeSet(UnicodeString(recommendedPat, -1, US_INV), status);
     gRecommendedSet->freeze();
     gNfdNormalizer = Normalizer2::getNFDInstance(status);
+    gDefaultSpoofData = SpoofData::getDefault(status);
     ucln_i18n_registerCleanup(UCLN_I18N_SPOOF, uspoof_cleanup);
 }
 
 
 U_CAPI USpoofChecker * U_EXPORT2
 uspoof_open(UErrorCode *status) {
+    umtx_initOnce(gSpoofInitOnce, &initializeStatics, *status);
     if (U_FAILURE(*status)) {
         return NULL;
     }
-    umtx_initOnce(gSpoofInitOnce, &initializeStatics, *status);
-    SpoofImpl *si = new SpoofImpl(SpoofData::getDefault(*status), *status);
+    SpoofImpl *si = new SpoofImpl(gDefaultSpoofData, *status);
+    if (si) {
+        gDefaultSpoofData->addReference();
+    }
+    if (U_SUCCESS(*status) && si == NULL) {
+        *status = U_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
+    }
     if (U_FAILURE(*status)) {
         delete si;
         si = NULL;
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/uspoof_impl.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/uspoof_impl.cpp
index 9c662f80483..e9077d3ac34 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/uspoof_impl.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/uspoof_impl.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
 **********************************************************************
-*   Copyright (C) 2008-2014, International Business Machines
+*   Copyright (C) 2008-2015, International Business Machines
 *   Corporation and others.  All Rights Reserved.
 **********************************************************************
 */
@@ -28,12 +28,11 @@ U_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 UOBJECT_DEFINE_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(SpoofImpl)
 
 SpoofImpl::SpoofImpl(SpoofData *data, UErrorCode &status) :
-        fMagic(0), fChecks(USPOOF_ALL_CHECKS), fSpoofData(NULL), fAllowedCharsSet(NULL) , 
+        fMagic(0), fChecks(USPOOF_ALL_CHECKS), fSpoofData(data), fAllowedCharsSet(NULL) , 
         fAllowedLocales(NULL), fCachedIdentifierInfo(NULL) {
     if (U_FAILURE(status)) {
         return;
     }
-    fSpoofData = data;
     fRestrictionLevel = USPOOF_HIGHLY_RESTRICTIVE;
 
     UnicodeSet *allowedCharsSet = new UnicodeSet(0, 0x10ffff);
@@ -500,11 +499,12 @@ spoofDataIsAcceptable(void *context,
 
 //
 //  SpoofData::getDefault() - return a wrapper around the spoof data that is
-//                           baked into the default ICU data.
+//                            baked into the default ICU data.
+//
+//               Called once, from the initOnce() function in uspoof_impl.cpp; the resulting
+//               SpoofData is shared by all spoof checkers using the default data.
 //
 SpoofData *SpoofData::getDefault(UErrorCode &status) {
-    // TODO:  Cache it.  Lazy create, keep until cleanup.
-
     UDataMemory *udm = udata_openChoice(NULL, "cfu", "confusables",
                                         spoofDataIsAcceptable, 
                                         NULL,       // context, would receive dataVersion if supplied.
@@ -567,7 +567,6 @@ SpoofData::SpoofData(UErrorCode &status) {
         return;
     }
     fDataOwned = true;
-    fRefCount = 1;
 
     // The spoof header should already be sized to be a multiple of 16 bytes.
     // Just in case it's not, round it up.