diff --git a/examples/snapping.html b/examples/snapping.html
index c59e4c96cb..7a7c3048d2 100644
--- a/examples/snapping.html
+++ b/examples/snapping.html
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@
             });
             draw = new OpenLayers.Control.DrawFeature(
                 poly, OpenLayers.Handler.Polygon,
-                {displayClass: "olControlDrawFeaturePoint", title: "Draw Features"}
+                {displayClass: "olControlDrawFeaturePoint", title: "Draw Features", handlerOptions: {holeModifier: "altKey"}}
             );
             modify = new OpenLayers.Control.ModifyFeature(
                 poly, {displayClass: "olControlModifyFeature", title: "Modify Features"}
diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/VML.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/VML.js
index a3c02e04ba..25dfdaf98c 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/VML.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/VML.js
@@ -751,21 +751,43 @@ OpenLayers.Renderer.VML = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements, {
         var resolution = this.getResolution();
     
         var path = [];
-        var linearRing, i, j, len, ilen, comp, x, y;
-        for (j = 0, len=geometry.components.length; j<len; j++) {
-            linearRing = geometry.components[j];
-
+        var j, jj, points, area, first, second, i, ii, comp, pathComp, x, y;
+        for (j=0, jj=geometry.components.length; j<jj; j++) {
             path.push("m");
-            for (i=0, ilen=linearRing.components.length; i<ilen; i++) {
-                comp = linearRing.components[i];
+            points = geometry.components[j].components;
+            // we only close paths of interior rings with area
+            area = (j === 0);
+            first = null;
+            second = null;
+            for (i=0, ii=points.length; i<ii; i++) {
+                comp = points[i];
                 x = (comp.x / resolution - this.offset.x) | 0;
                 y = (comp.y / resolution - this.offset.y) | 0;
-                path.push(" " + x + "," + y);
+                pathComp = " " + x + "," + y;
+                path.push(pathComp)
                 if (i==0) {
                     path.push(" l");
                 }
+                if (!area) {
+                    // IE improperly renders sub-paths that have no area.
+                    // Instead of checking the area of every ring, we confirm
+                    // the ring has at least three distinct points.  This does
+                    // not catch all non-zero area cases, but it greatly improves
+                    // interior ring digitizing and is a minor performance hit
+                    // when rendering rings with many points.
+                    if (!first) {
+                        first = pathComp;
+                    } else if (first != pathComp) {
+                        if (!second) {
+                            second = pathComp;
+                        } else if (second != pathComp) {
+                            // stop looking
+                            area = true;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
             }
-            path.push(" x ");
+            path.push(area ? " x " : " ");
         }
         path.push("e");
         node.path = path.join("");
diff --git a/tests/Renderer/VML.html b/tests/Renderer/VML.html
index 96da8f9dbd..d4906e2009 100644
--- a/tests/Renderer/VML.html
+++ b/tests/Renderer/VML.html
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@
             return;
         }
         
-        t.plan(2);
+        t.plan(3);
         
         var r = new OpenLayers.Renderer.VML(document.body);
         r.offset = {x: 0, y: 0};
@@ -318,30 +318,16 @@
         
         var node = document.createElement('div');
         
-        var linearRing = {
-            components: [{
-                x: 1,
-                y: 2
-            },{
-                x: 3,
-                y: 4
-            }]
-        };
-        var linearRing2 = {
-            components: [{
-                x: 5,
-                y: 6
-            },{
-                x: 7,
-                y: 8
-            }]
-        };
-        var geometry = {
-            components: [linearRing, linearRing2]
-        };
+        var geometry = OpenLayers.Geometry.fromWKT(
+            "POLYGON((1 2, 3 4), (5 6, 7 8))"
+        );
         r.drawPolygon(node, geometry, true);
         t.ok(g_SetNodeDimension, "setNodeDimension is called");
-        t.eq(node.path, "m 2,4 l 6,8 x m 10,12 l 14,16 x e", "path attribute is correct");
+        t.eq(node.path, "m 2,4 l 6,8 2,4 x m 10,12 l 14,16 10,12 e", "path attribute is correct - inner ring has no area and is not closed");
+
+        geometry.components[1].addComponent(new OpenLayers.Geometry.Point(8, 7));
+        r.drawPolygon(node, geometry, true);
+        t.eq(node.path, "m 2,4 l 6,8 2,4 x m 10,12 l 14,16 16,14 10,12 x e", "path attribute is correct - inner ring has an area and is closed");        
     }
     
     function test_VML_drawrectangle(t) {