The NMR structure of budding yeast chaperone Chz1 complexed with histones H2A.Z-H2B has been determined. Chz1 forms a long irregular chain capped by two short alpha-helices, and uses both positively and negatively charged residues to stabilize the histone dimer. A molecular model that docks Chz1 onto the nucleosome has implications for its potential functions.