diff --git a/src/kiconengine.h b/src/kiconengine.h
--- a/src/kiconengine.h
+++ b/src/kiconengine.h
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@
 
 private:
     //TODO KF6: move those into the d-pointer
+    QPixmap createPixmap(const QSize &size, qreal scale, QIcon::Mode mode, QIcon::State state);
+
     QString mIconName;
     QStringList mOverlays;
     QPointer<KIconLoader> mIconLoader;
diff --git a/src/kiconengine.cpp b/src/kiconengine.cpp
--- a/src/kiconengine.cpp
+++ b/src/kiconengine.cpp
@@ -80,38 +80,52 @@
     painter->drawPixmap(rect, pixmap(rect.size() * dpr, mode, state));
 }
 
-QPixmap KIconEngine::pixmap(const QSize &size, QIcon::Mode mode, QIcon::State state)
+QPixmap KIconEngine::createPixmap(const QSize &size, qreal scale, QIcon::Mode mode, QIcon::State state)
 {
     Q_UNUSED(state)
 
+    if (scale < 1) {
+        scale = 1;
+    }
+
     if (size.isEmpty()) {
         return QPixmap();
     }
 
+    QSize scaledSize = size / scale;
+
     if (!mIconLoader) {
         QPixmap pm(size);
+        pm.setDevicePixelRatio(scale);
         pm.fill(Qt::transparent);
         return pm;
     }
 
-
     const int kstate = qIconModeToKIconState(mode);
-    const int iconSize = qMin(size.width(), size.height());
-    QPixmap pix = mIconLoader.data()->loadIcon(mIconName, KIconLoader::Desktop, iconSize, kstate, mOverlays);
+    const int iconSize = qMin(scaledSize.width(), scaledSize.height());
+    QPixmap pix = mIconLoader.data()->loadIcon(mIconName, KIconLoader::Desktop, scale, iconSize, kstate, mOverlays);
 
     if (pix.size() == size) {
         return pix;
     }
 
-    QPixmap pix2(size);
+    // FIXME this stuff down here is broken, either X "Maximum allowed requested length exceeded" with dpr >= 3
+    // or the pixmap is just broken (too small, wrongly positioned etc)
+    QPixmap pix2(size * scale);
+    pix2.setDevicePixelRatio(scale);
     pix2.fill(QColor(0, 0, 0, 0));
 
     QPainter painter(&pix2);
     painter.drawPixmap(QPoint((pix2.width() - pix.width()) / 2, (pix2.height() - pix.height()) / 2), pix);
 
     return pix2;
 }
 
+QPixmap KIconEngine::pixmap(const QSize &size, QIcon::Mode mode, QIcon::State state)
+{
+    return createPixmap(size, 1, mode, state);
+}
+
 QString KIconEngine::iconName() const
 {
     if (!mIconLoader || !mIconLoader->hasIcon(mIconName)) {
@@ -166,5 +180,12 @@
 #endif
         *reinterpret_cast<bool*>(data) = !mIconLoader || !mIconLoader->hasIcon(mIconName);
     }
+#if QT_VERSION >= QT_VERSION_CHECK(5, 9, 0)
+    if (id == QIconEngine::ScaledPixmapHook) {
+        auto *info = reinterpret_cast<ScaledPixmapArgument *>(data);
+        info->pixmap = createPixmap(info->size, info->scale, info->mode, info->state);
+        return;
+    }
+#endif
     QIconEngine::virtual_hook(id, data);
 }
diff --git a/src/kiconloader.h b/src/kiconloader.h
--- a/src/kiconloader.h
+++ b/src/kiconloader.h
@@ -244,6 +244,12 @@
                      QString *path_store = nullptr,
                      bool canReturnNull = false) const;
 
+    // FIXME docs
+    QPixmap loadIcon(const QString &name, KIconLoader::Group group, qreal scale, int size = 0,
+                     int state = KIconLoader::DefaultState, const QStringList &overlays = QStringList(),
+                     QString *path_store = nullptr,
+                     bool canReturnNull = false) const;
+
     /**
      * Loads an icon for a mimetype.
      * This is basically like loadIcon except that extra desktop themes are loaded if necessary.
diff --git a/src/kiconloader.cpp b/src/kiconloader.cpp
--- a/src/kiconloader.cpp
+++ b/src/kiconloader.cpp
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@
      * icon metadata. Ensure the metadata is normalized first.
      */
     QString makeCacheKey(const QString &name, KIconLoader::Group group, const QStringList &overlays,
-                         int size, int state) const;
+                         int size, qreal scale, int state) const;
 
     /**
      * @internal
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@
      * @p size is only used for scalable images, but if non-zero non-scalable
      * images will be resized anyways.
      */
-    QImage createIconImage(const QString &path, int size = 0, KIconLoader::States state = KIconLoader::DefaultState);
+    QImage createIconImage(const QString &path, int size = 0, qreal scale = 1.0, KIconLoader::States state = KIconLoader::DefaultState);
 
     /**
      * @internal
@@ -848,7 +848,7 @@
 }
 
 QString KIconLoaderPrivate::makeCacheKey(const QString &name, KIconLoader::Group group,
-        const QStringList &overlays, int size, int state) const
+        const QStringList &overlays, int size, qreal scale, int state) const
 {
     // The KSharedDataCache is shared so add some namespacing. The following code
     // uses QStringBuilder (new in Qt 4.6)
@@ -859,6 +859,8 @@
            % name
            % QLatin1Char('_')
            % QString::number(size)
+           % QLatin1Char('@')
+           % QString::number(scale)
            % QLatin1Char('_')
            % overlays.join(QStringLiteral("_"))
            % (group >= 0 ? mpEffect.fingerprint(group, state)
@@ -918,7 +920,7 @@
     return processedContents;
 }
 
-QImage KIconLoaderPrivate::createIconImage(const QString &path, int size, KIconLoader::States state)
+QImage KIconLoaderPrivate::createIconImage(const QString &path, int size, qreal scale, KIconLoader::States state)
 {
     //TODO: metadata in the theme to make it do this only if explicitly supported?
     QScopedPointer<QImageReader> reader;
@@ -936,7 +938,7 @@
     }
 
     if (size != 0) {
-        reader->setScaledSize(QSize(size, size));
+        reader->setScaledSize(QSize(size * scale, size * scale));
     }
 
     return reader->read();
@@ -1242,6 +1244,13 @@
                               int state, const QStringList &overlays,
                               QString *path_store, bool canReturnNull) const
 {
+    return loadIcon(_name, group, 1.0 /*scale*/, size, state, overlays, path_store, canReturnNull);
+}
+
+QPixmap KIconLoader::loadIcon(const QString &_name, KIconLoader::Group group, qreal scale, int size,
+                              int state, const QStringList &overlays,
+                              QString *path_store, bool canReturnNull) const
+{
     QString name = _name;
     bool favIconOverlay = false;
 
@@ -1280,12 +1289,14 @@
     d->normalizeIconMetadata(group, size, state);
 
     // See if the image is already cached.
-    QString key = d->makeCacheKey(name, group, overlays, size, state);
+    QString key = d->makeCacheKey(name, group, overlays, size, scale, state);
     QPixmap pix;
+    pix.setDevicePixelRatio(scale);
+
     bool iconWasUnknown = false;
     QString path;
 
-    if (d->findCachedPixmapWithPath(key, pix, path)) {
+    if (d->findCachedPixmapWithPath(key, pix, path)) {// skip cache
         if (path_store) {
             *path_store = path;
         }
@@ -1333,7 +1344,7 @@
 
     QImage img;
     if (!path.isEmpty()) {
-        img = d->createIconImage(path, size, (KIconLoader::States)state);
+        img = d->createIconImage(path, size, scale, (KIconLoader::States)state);
     }
 
     if (group >= 0) {