diff --git a/lib/resources/package.rb b/lib/resources/package.rb
index f5d0ffa57..6600149ac 100644
--- a/lib/resources/package.rb
+++ b/lib/resources/package.rb
@@ -184,14 +184,27 @@ module Inspec::Resources
     end
   end
 
-  # Determines the installed packages on Windows
-  # Currently we use 'Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product' as a detection method
-  # TODO: evaluate if alternative methods as proposed by Microsoft are still valid:
+  # Determines the installed packages on Windows using the Windows package registry entries.
   # @see: http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2013/11/15/use-powershell-to-find-installed-software.aspx
   class WindowsPkg < PkgManagement
     def info(package_name)
+      search_paths = [
+        'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*',
+        'HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*',
+      ]
+
+      # add 64 bit search paths
+      if inspec.os.arch == 'x86_64'
+        search_paths << 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*'
+        search_paths << 'HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*'
+      end
+
       # Find the package
-      cmd = inspec.command("Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq '#{package_name}'} | Select-Object -Property Name,Version,Vendor,PackageCode,Caption,Description | ConvertTo-Json")
+      cmd = inspec.command <<-EOF.gsub(/^\s*/, '')
+        Get-ItemProperty (@("#{search_paths.join('", "')}") | Where-Object { Test-Path $_ }) |
+        Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -like "#{package_name}*" -or $_.PSChildName -like "#{package_name}" } |
+        Select-Object -Property DisplayName,DisplayVersion | ConvertTo-Json
+      EOF
 
       begin
         package = JSON.parse(cmd.stdout)
@@ -199,10 +212,13 @@ module Inspec::Resources
         return nil
       end
 
+      # What if we match multiple packages?  just pick the first one for now.
+      package = package[0] if package.is_a?(Array)
+
       {
-        name: package['Name'],
+        name: package['DisplayName'],
         installed: true,
-        version: package['Version'],
+        version: package['DisplayVersion'],
         type: 'windows',
       }
     end
diff --git a/test/helper.rb b/test/helper.rb
index 3891cf61a..e2120ad83 100644
--- a/test/helper.rb
+++ b/test/helper.rb
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ class MockLoader
       # ports on freebsd
       'sockstat -46l' => cmd.call('sockstat'),
       # packages on windows
-      "Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq 'Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x64 9.0.30729.6161'} | Select-Object -Property Name,Version,Vendor,PackageCode,Caption,Description | ConvertTo-Json" => cmd.call('win32_product'),
+      'f18912b2e36924b367a110c31da6b835a1c217cd10014c7312b7435bf79a601c' => cmd.call('get-item-property-package'),
       # service status upstart on ubuntu
       'initctl status ssh' => cmd.call('initctl-status-ssh'),
       # service config for upstart on ubuntu
diff --git a/test/integration/default/package_spec.rb b/test/integration/default/package_spec.rb
index e32e0a781..3886cf5e0 100644
--- a/test/integration/default/package_spec.rb
+++ b/test/integration/default/package_spec.rb
@@ -28,3 +28,31 @@ end
 describe package('nginx') do
   it { should_not be_installed }
 end
+
+# the following test will iterate over all packages retrieved via WMI and verifies that the
+# optimized package implementation is returning the same results
+if os.windows?
+  # compare optimized version with wmi results
+  packages = powershell("Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product |  % { $_.Name }").stdout.strip.split("\n")
+
+  packages.each { |pkg|
+    package_name = pkg.strip
+    # get wmi package information
+    cmd = powershell("Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq '#{package_name}'} | Select-Object -Property Name,Version,Vendor,PackageCode,Caption,Description | ConvertTo-Json")
+    wmi_package = JSON.parse(cmd.stdout)
+    wmi_info = {
+      name: wmi_package['Name'],
+      installed: true,
+      version: wmi_package['Version'],
+      type: 'windows',
+    }
+
+    # get registry package information
+    info = package(package_name).info
+
+    # compare results
+    describe wmi_info do
+      it { should eq info}
+    end
+  }
+end
diff --git a/test/unit/mock/cmd/get-item-property-package b/test/unit/mock/cmd/get-item-property-package
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..36e581f2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/mock/cmd/get-item-property-package
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+    "DisplayName":  "Chef Client v12.12.15",
+    "DisplayVersion":  "12.12.15.1"
+}
diff --git a/test/unit/mock/cmd/win32_product b/test/unit/mock/cmd/win32_product
deleted file mode 100644
index 591e53378..000000000
--- a/test/unit/mock/cmd/win32_product
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-{
-    "Name":  "Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x64 9.0.30729.6161",
-    "Version":  "9.0.30729.6161",
-    "Vendor":  "Microsoft Corporation",
-    "PackageCode":  "{9C7D912C-6EDE-47A4-962E-7A83663440BA}",
-    "Caption":  "Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x64 9.0.30729.6161",
-    "Description":  "Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x64 9.0.30729.6161"
-}
diff --git a/test/unit/resources/package_test.rb b/test/unit/resources/package_test.rb
index 97db0f2c4..8e5c4f552 100644
--- a/test/unit/resources/package_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/resources/package_test.rb
@@ -53,10 +53,10 @@ describe 'Inspec::Resources::Package' do
 
   # windows
   it 'verify windows package parsing' do
-    resource = MockLoader.new(:windows).load_resource('package', 'Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x64 9.0.30729.6161')
-    pkg = { name: 'Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x64 9.0.30729.6161', installed: true, version: '9.0.30729.6161', type: 'windows' }
+    resource = MockLoader.new(:windows).load_resource('package', 'Chef Client v12.12.15')
+    pkg = { name: 'Chef Client v12.12.15', installed: true, version: '12.12.15.1', type: 'windows' }
     _(resource.installed?).must_equal true
-    _(resource.version).must_equal '9.0.30729.6161'
+    _(resource.version).must_equal '12.12.15.1'
     _(resource.info).must_equal pkg
   end