diff --git a/src/corelib/io/qsettings_win.cpp b/src/corelib/io/qsettings_win.cpp
index 25cba3ecb4..caa8c84f24 100644
--- a/src/corelib/io/qsettings_win.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/io/qsettings_win.cpp
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ public:
     void flush() override;
     bool isWritable() const override;
     HKEY writeHandle() const;
-    bool readKey(HKEY parentHandle, const QString &rSubKey, QVariant *value) const;
+    std::optional<QVariant> readKey(HKEY parentHandle, const QString &rSubKey) const;
     QString fileName() const override;
 
 private:
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ QWinSettingsPrivate::QWinSettingsPrivate(QString rPath, REGSAM access)
         regList.append(RegistryKey(keyName, rPath.mid(keyLength+1), false, access));
 }
 
-bool QWinSettingsPrivate::readKey(HKEY parentHandle, const QString &rSubKey, QVariant *value) const
+std::optional<QVariant> QWinSettingsPrivate::readKey(HKEY parentHandle, const QString &rSubKey) const
 {
     QString rSubkeyName = keyName(rSubKey);
     QString rSubkeyPath = keyPath(rSubKey);
@@ -486,7 +486,7 @@ bool QWinSettingsPrivate::readKey(HKEY parentHandle, const QString &rSubKey, QVa
     // open a handle on the subkey
     HKEY handle = openKey(parentHandle, KEY_READ, rSubkeyPath, access);
     if (handle == 0)
-        return false;
+        return std::nullopt;
 
     const auto closeKey = qScopeGuard([handle] { RegCloseKey(handle); });
 
@@ -495,7 +495,7 @@ bool QWinSettingsPrivate::readKey(HKEY parentHandle, const QString &rSubKey, QVa
     DWORD dataSize;
     LONG res = RegQueryValueEx(handle, reinterpret_cast<const wchar_t *>(rSubkeyName.utf16()), 0, &dataType, 0, &dataSize);
     if (res != ERROR_SUCCESS)
-        return false;
+        return std::nullopt;
 
     // workaround for rare cases where trailing '\0' are missing in registry
     if (dataType == REG_SZ || dataType == REG_EXPAND_SZ)
@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ bool QWinSettingsPrivate::readKey(HKEY parentHandle, const QString &rSubKey, QVa
     res = RegQueryValueEx(handle, reinterpret_cast<const wchar_t *>(rSubkeyName.utf16()), 0, 0,
                            reinterpret_cast<unsigned char*>(data.data()), &dataSize);
     if (res != ERROR_SUCCESS)
-        return false;
+        return std::nullopt;
 
     switch (dataType) {
         case REG_EXPAND_SZ:
@@ -517,9 +517,7 @@ bool QWinSettingsPrivate::readKey(HKEY parentHandle, const QString &rSubKey, QVa
             if (dataSize) {
                 s = QString::fromWCharArray(reinterpret_cast<const wchar_t *>(data.constData()));
             }
-            if (value != 0)
-                *value = stringToVariant(s);
-            break;
+            return stringToVariant(s);
         }
 
         case REG_MULTI_SZ: {
@@ -535,9 +533,7 @@ bool QWinSettingsPrivate::readKey(HKEY parentHandle, const QString &rSubKey, QVa
                     l.append(s);
                 }
             }
-            if (value != 0)
-                *value = stringListToVariantList(l);
-            break;
+            return stringListToVariantList(l);
         }
 
         case REG_NONE:
@@ -546,9 +542,7 @@ bool QWinSettingsPrivate::readKey(HKEY parentHandle, const QString &rSubKey, QVa
             if (dataSize) {
                 s = QString::fromWCharArray(reinterpret_cast<const wchar_t *>(data.constData()), data.size() / 2);
             }
-            if (value != 0)
-                *value = stringToVariant(s);
-            break;
+            return stringToVariant(s);
         }
 
         case REG_DWORD_BIG_ENDIAN:
@@ -556,28 +550,22 @@ bool QWinSettingsPrivate::readKey(HKEY parentHandle, const QString &rSubKey, QVa
             Q_ASSERT(data.size() == sizeof(int));
             int i;
             memcpy(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&i), data.constData(), sizeof(int));
-            if (value != 0)
-                *value = i;
-            break;
+            return i;
         }
 
         case REG_QWORD: {
             Q_ASSERT(data.size() == sizeof(qint64));
             qint64 i;
             memcpy(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&i), data.constData(), sizeof(qint64));
-            if (value != 0)
-                *value = i;
-            break;
+            return i;
         }
 
         default:
             qWarning("QSettings: Unknown data %d type in Windows registry", static_cast<int>(dataType));
-            if (value != 0)
-                *value = QVariant();
             break;
     }
 
-    return true;
+    return std::nullopt;
 }
 
 HKEY QWinSettingsPrivate::writeHandle() const
@@ -751,13 +739,12 @@ std::optional<QVariant> QWinSettingsPrivate::get(const QString &uKey) const
 {
     QString rKey = escapedKey(uKey);
 
-    QVariant value;
-
     for (const RegistryKey &r : regList) {
         HKEY handle = r.handle();
-        if (handle != 0 && readKey(handle, rKey, &value))
-            return value;
-
+        if (handle != 0) {
+            if (auto result = readKey(handle, rKey))
+                return result;
+        }
         if (!fallbacks)
             return std::nullopt;
     }