diff --git a/.github/workflows/php.yml b/.github/workflows/php.yml
index 8b092b3..ade9b06 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/php.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/php.yml
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ jobs:
         run: composer-require-checker check --config-file=tools/composer-require-checker.json composer.json
 
       - name: Check code for unused dependencies in composer.json
-        run: composer-unused
+        run: composer-unused --excludePackage=simplesamlphp/composer-xmlprovider-installer
 
       - name: PHP Code Sniffer
         run: phpcs
diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index b60c64c..abf7e51 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
     "name": "simplesamlphp/xml-common",
     "description": "A library with classes and utilities for handling XML structures.",
-    "type": "project",
+    "type": "simplesamlphp-xmlprovider",
     "keywords": ["saml", "xml"],
     "homepage": "http://simplesamlphp.org",
     "license": "LGPL-2.1-or-later",
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@
         "ext-spl": "*",
         "ext-xmlreader": "*",
 
-        "simplesamlphp/assert": "^1.2"
+        "simplesamlphp/assert": "^1.2",
+        "simplesamlphp/composer-xmlprovider-installer": "dev-master",
+        "symfony/finder": "^6.4"
     },
     "require-dev": {
         "simplesamlphp/simplesamlphp-test-framework": "^1.7"
@@ -47,7 +49,8 @@
         "allow-plugins": {
             "composer/package-versions-deprecated": true,
             "dealerdirect/phpcodesniffer-composer-installer": true,
-            "phpstan/extension-installer": true
+            "phpstan/extension-installer": true,
+            "simplesamlphp/composer-xmlprovider-installer": true
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Registry/ElementRegistry.php b/src/Registry/ElementRegistry.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9bb707a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Registry/ElementRegistry.php
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace SimpleSAML\XML\Registry;
+
+use SimpleSAML\Assert\Assert;
+use SimpleSAML\XML\AbstractElement;
+use SimpleSAML\XML\Exception\InvalidDOMElementException;
+use SimpleSAML\XML\Exception\IOException;
+use Symfony\Component\Finder\Finder;
+
+use function array_merge_recursive;
+use function dirname;
+use function file_exists;
+
+final class ElementRegistry
+{
+    /** @var \SimpleSAML\XML\Registry\ElementRegistry|null $instance */
+    private static ?ElementRegistry $instance = null;
+
+    /** @var array<string, array<string, string>> */
+    private array $registry = [];
+
+
+    private function __construct()
+    {
+        // Initialize the registry with all the elements we know
+        $classesDir = dirname(__FILE__, 6) . '/vendor/simplesamlphp/composer-xmlprovider-installer/classes';
+
+        if (file_exists($classesDir) === true) {
+            $finder = Finder::create()->files()->name('element.registry.*.php')->in($classesDir);
+            if ($finder->hasResults()) {
+                foreach ($finder as $file) {
+                    $this->importFromFile($file->getPathName());
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+
+    public function importFromFile(string $file): void
+    {
+        if (file_exists($file) === true) {
+            $elements = include($file);
+            $this->registry = array_merge_recursive($this->registry, $elements);
+        } else {
+            throw new IOException('File not found.');
+        }
+    }
+
+
+    public static function getInstance(): ElementRegistry
+    {
+        if (self::$instance === null) {
+            self::$instance = new static();
+        }
+
+        return self::$instance;
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     * Register a class that can process a certain XML-element.
+     *
+     * @param string $class The class name of a class extending AbstractElement.
+     */
+    public function registerElementHandler(string $class): void
+    {
+        Assert::subclassOf($class, AbstractElement::class);
+        $className = AbstractElement::getClassName($class);
+        $namespace = $class::NS;
+
+        $this->registry[$namespace][$className] = $class;
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     * Search for a class that implements an $element in the given $namespace.
+     *
+     * Such classes must have been registered previously by calling registerElementHandler(), and they must
+     * extend \SimpleSAML\XML\AbstractElement.
+     *
+     * @param string|null $namespace The namespace URI for the given element.
+     * @param string $element The local name of the element.
+     *
+     * @return string|null The fully-qualified name of a class extending \SimpleSAML\XML\AbstractElement and
+     * implementing support for the given element, or null if no such class has been registered before.
+     */
+    public function getElementHandler(?string $namespace, string $element): ?string
+    {
+        Assert::nullOrValidURI($namespace, InvalidDOMElementException::class);
+        Assert::validNCName($element, InvalidDOMElementException::class);
+
+        return $this->registry[$namespace][$element] ?? null;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Registry/ElementRegistryTest.php b/tests/Registry/ElementRegistryTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f38acf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Registry/ElementRegistryTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace SimpleSAML\Test\XML;
+
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\CoversClass;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Group;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+use SimpleSAML\XML\Registry\ElementRegistry;
+
+/**
+ * @package simplesamlphp\xml-common
+ */
+#[CoversClass(ElementRegistry::class)]
+#[Group('registry')]
+final class ElementRegistryTest extends TestCase
+{
+    /** @var \SimpleSAML\XML\Registry\ElementRegistry */
+    protected static ElementRegistry $registry;
+
+
+    /**
+     */
+    public static function setUpBeforeClass(): void
+    {
+        self::$registry = ElementRegistry::getInstance();
+        self::$registry->registerElementHandler('\SimpleSAML\Test\XML\Element');
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     */
+    public function testFetchingHandlerWorks(): void
+    {
+        $handler = self::$registry->getElementHandler('urn:x-simplesamlphp:namespace', 'Element');
+        $this->assertEquals($handler, '\SimpleSAML\Test\XML\Element');
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     */
+    public function testAddingHandlerWorks(): void
+    {
+        self::$registry->registerElementHandler('\SimpleSAML\Test\XML\ExtendableElement');
+        $handler = self::$registry->getElementHandler('urn:x-simplesamlphp:namespace', 'ExtendableElement');
+        $this->assertEquals($handler, '\SimpleSAML\Test\XML\ExtendableElement');
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     */
+    public function testUnknownHandlerReturnsNull(): void
+    {
+        $handler = self::$registry->getElementHandler('urn:x-simplesamlphp:namespace', 'UnknownElement');
+        $this->assertNull($handler);
+    }
+}