diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 0d7cbd134..dc2fa13ec 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
     'azure-storage-blob>=12.0.0,<13',
     'azure-storage-file-datalake>=12.11.0,<13',
     'azure-identity>=1.13.0',
+    'catalogue>=2,<3',
 ]
 
 extra_deps = {}
diff --git a/streaming/base/dataset.py b/streaming/base/dataset.py
index cb5c32ba9..447ca5b93 100644
--- a/streaming/base/dataset.py
+++ b/streaming/base/dataset.py
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@
 from streaming.base.shared import (SharedArray, SharedBarrier, SharedMemory, SharedScalar,
                                    _get_path, get_shm_prefix)
 from streaming.base.spanner import Spanner
-from streaming.base.stream import Stream
+from streaming.base.registry_utils import construct_from_registry
+from streaming.base.stream import Stream, streams_registry
 from streaming.base.util import bytes_to_int, number_abbrev_to_int
 from streaming.base.world import World
 
@@ -334,7 +335,8 @@ def __init__(self,
                  shuffle_block_size: Optional[int] = None,
                  batching_method: str = 'random',
                  allow_unsafe_types: bool = False,
-                 replication: Optional[int] = None) -> None:
+                 replication: Optional[int] = None,
+                 **kwargs: Any) -> None:
         # Global arguments (which do not live in Streams).
         self.predownload = predownload
         self.cache_limit = cache_limit
@@ -438,13 +440,26 @@ def __init__(self,
             for stream in streams:
                 stream.apply_default(default)
         else:
-            default = Stream(remote=remote,
-                             local=local,
-                             split=split,
-                             download_retry=download_retry,
-                             download_timeout=download_timeout,
-                             validate_hash=validate_hash,
-                             keep_zip=keep_zip)
+            kwargs = {
+                'remote': remote,
+                'local': local,
+                'split': split,
+                'download_retry': download_retry,
+                'download_timeout': download_timeout,
+                'validate_hash': validate_hash,
+                'keep_zip': keep_zip,
+                **kwargs,
+            }
+
+            default = construct_from_registry(
+                name='stream',
+                registry=streams_registry,
+                partial_function=False,
+                pre_validation_function=None,
+                post_validation_function=None,
+                kwargs=kwargs,
+            )
+
             streams = [default]
 
         # Validate the stream weighting scheme (relative or absolute) to catch errors before we go
diff --git a/streaming/base/registry_utils.py b/streaming/base/registry_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fa6ca44a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/streaming/base/registry_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+# Copyright 2024 MosaicML Streaming authors
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import copy
+import functools
+import importlib.util
+import os
+from contextlib import contextmanager
+from pathlib import Path
+from types import ModuleType
+from typing import Any, Callable, Generic, Optional, Sequence, TypeVar, Union
+
+import catalogue
+
+__all__ = [
+    'TypedRegistry',
+    'create_registry',
+    'construct_from_registry',
+    'import_file',
+    'save_registry',
+]
+
+T = TypeVar('T')
+TypeBoundT = TypeVar('TypeBoundT', bound=type)
+CallableBoundT = TypeVar('CallableBoundT', bound=Callable[..., Any])
+
+
+class TypedRegistry(catalogue.Registry, Generic[T]):
+    """A thin wrapper around catalogue.Registry to add static typing and.
+
+    descriptions.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        namespace: Sequence[str],
+        entry_points: bool = False,
+        description: str = '',
+    ) -> None:
+        super().__init__(namespace, entry_points=entry_points)
+
+        self.description = description
+
+    def __call__(self, name: str, func: Optional[T] = None) -> Callable[[T], T]:
+        return super().__call__(name, func)
+
+    def register(self, name: str, *, func: Optional[T] = None) -> T:
+        return super().register(name, func=func)
+
+    def register_class(
+        self,
+        name: str,
+        *,
+        func: Optional[TypeBoundT] = None,
+    ) -> TypeBoundT:
+        return super().register(name, func=func)
+
+    def get(self, name: str) -> T:
+        return super().get(name)
+
+    def get_all(self) -> dict[str, T]:
+        return super().get_all()
+
+    def get_entry_point(self, name: str, default: Optional[T] = None) -> T:
+        return super().get_entry_point(name, default=default)
+
+    def get_entry_points(self) -> dict[str, T]:
+        return super().get_entry_points()
+
+
+S = TypeVar('S')
+
+
+def create_registry(
+    *namespace: str,
+    generic_type: type[S],
+    entry_points: bool = False,
+    description: str = '',
+) -> 'TypedRegistry[S]':
+    """Create a new registry.
+
+    Args:
+        namespace (str): The namespace, e.g. "llmfoundry.loggers"
+        generic_type (Type[S]): The type of the registry.
+        entry_points (bool): Accept registered functions from entry points.
+        description (str): A description of the registry.
+
+    Returns:
+        The TypedRegistry object.
+    """
+    if catalogue.check_exists(*namespace):
+        raise catalogue.RegistryError(f'Namespace already exists: {namespace}')
+
+    return TypedRegistry[generic_type](
+        namespace,
+        entry_points=entry_points,
+        description=description,
+    )
+
+
+def construct_from_registry(
+    name: str,
+    registry: TypedRegistry,
+    partial_function: bool = True,
+    pre_validation_function: Optional[Union[Callable[[Any], None], type]] = None,
+    post_validation_function: Optional[Callable[[Any], None]] = None,
+    kwargs: Optional[dict[str, Any]] = None,
+) -> Any:
+    """Helper function to build an item from the registry.
+
+    Args:
+        name (str): The name of the registered item
+        registry (catalogue.Registry): The registry to fetch the item from
+        partial_function (bool, optional): Whether to return a partial function for registered callables. Defaults to True.
+        pre_validation_function (Optional[Union[Callable[[Any], None], type]], optional): An optional validation function called
+            before constructing the item to return. This should throw an exception if validation fails. Defaults to None.
+        post_validation_function (Optional[Callable[[Any], None]], optional): An optional validation function called after
+            constructing the item to return. This should throw an exception if validation fails. Defaults to None.
+        kwargs (Optional[Dict[str, Any]]): Other relevant keyword arguments.
+
+    Raises:
+        ValueError: If the validation functions failed or the registered item is invalid
+
+    Returns:
+        Any: The constructed item from the registry
+    """
+    if kwargs is None:
+        kwargs = {}
+
+    registered_constructor = registry.get(name)
+
+    if pre_validation_function is not None:
+        if isinstance(pre_validation_function, type):
+            if not issubclass(registered_constructor, pre_validation_function):
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f'Expected {name} to be of type {pre_validation_function}, but got {type(registered_constructor)}',
+                )
+        elif isinstance(pre_validation_function, Callable):
+            pre_validation_function(registered_constructor)
+        else:
+            raise ValueError(
+                f'Expected pre_validation_function to be a callable or a type, but got {type(pre_validation_function)}',
+            )
+
+    # If it is a class, or a builder function, construct the class with kwargs
+    # If it is a function, create a partial with kwargs
+    if isinstance(
+            registered_constructor,
+            type,
+    ) or callable(registered_constructor) and not partial_function:
+        constructed_item = registered_constructor(**kwargs)
+    elif callable(registered_constructor):
+        constructed_item = functools.partial(registered_constructor, **kwargs)
+    else:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f'Expected {name} to be a class or function, but got {type(registered_constructor)}',)
+
+    if post_validation_function is not None:
+        post_validation_function(constructed_item)
+
+    return constructed_item
+
+
+def import_file(loc: Union[str, Path]) -> ModuleType:
+    """Import module from a file.
+
+    Used to run arbitrary python code.
+
+    Args:
+        name (str): Name of module to load.
+        loc (str / Path): Path to the file.
+
+    Returns:
+        ModuleType: The module object.
+    """
+    if not os.path.exists(loc):
+        raise FileNotFoundError(f'File {loc} does not exist.')
+
+    spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location('python_code', str(loc))
+
+    assert spec is not None
+    assert spec.loader is not None
+
+    module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
+
+    try:
+        spec.loader.exec_module(module)
+    except Exception as e:
+        raise RuntimeError(f'Error executing {loc}') from e
+    return module
+
+
+@contextmanager
+def save_registry():
+    """Save the registry state and restore after the context manager exits."""
+    saved_registry_state = copy.deepcopy(catalogue.REGISTRY)
+
+    yield
+
+    catalogue.REGISTRY = saved_registry_state
diff --git a/streaming/base/stream.py b/streaming/base/stream.py
index 133938e12..b1e1dd05f 100644
--- a/streaming/base/stream.py
+++ b/streaming/base/stream.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 from streaming.base.storage import CloudDownloader
 from streaming.base.util import retry, wait_for_file_to_exist
 from streaming.base.world import World
-
+from streaming.base.registry_utils import create_registry
 
 class Stream:
     """A dataset, or sub-dataset if mixing, from which we stream/cache samples.
@@ -507,3 +507,10 @@ def get_index_size(self) -> int:
         """
         filename = os.path.join(self.local, self.split, get_index_basename())
         return os.stat(filename).st_size
+
+streams_registry = create_registry('streaming', 'streams_registry',
+                         generic_type=type[Stream],
+                         entry_points=True,
+                         description="The streams registry is used for registering Stream classes.")
+
+streams_registry.register('stream', func=Stream)
\ No newline at end of file