diff --git a/shell/CMakeLists.txt b/shell/CMakeLists.txt
index 59521e8c6..62b70161e 100644
--- a/shell/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/shell/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ include_directories(
 set(okular_SRCS
    main.cpp
    shell.cpp
+   shellutils.cpp
 )
 
 kde4_add_app_icon(okular_SRCS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../ui/data/icons/hi*-apps-okular.png")
diff --git a/shell/shell.cpp b/shell/shell.cpp
index 32091e2c8..709108c75 100644
--- a/shell/shell.cpp
+++ b/shell/shell.cpp
@@ -45,41 +45,15 @@
 
 // local includes
 #include "kdocumentviewer.h"
+#include "shellutils.h"
 
 Shell::Shell(KCmdLineArgs* args, int argIndex)
   : KParts::MainWindow(), m_args(args), m_menuBarWasShown(true), m_toolBarWasShown(true)
 {
   if (m_args && argIndex != -1)
   {
-    /*
-     Rationale for the small "cut-and-paste" work being done below:
-     KCmdLineArgs::makeURL() (used by ::url() encodes any # into the URL itself,
-     so we have to find it manually and build up the URL by taking its ref,
-     if any.
-     */
-    QString arg = m_args->arg(argIndex);
-    const QString origArg = arg;
-    arg.replace(QRegExp("^file:/{1,3}"), "/");
-    if (arg != origArg)
-    {
-        arg = QString::fromUtf8(QByteArray::fromPercentEncoding(arg.toUtf8()));
-    }
-    KUrl url = KCmdLineArgs::makeURL(arg.toUtf8());
-    int sharpPos = -1;
-    if (!url.isLocalFile() || !QFile::exists(url.toLocalFile()))
-    {
-        sharpPos = arg.lastIndexOf(QLatin1Char('#'));
-    }
-    if (sharpPos != -1)
-    {
-      url = KCmdLineArgs::makeURL(arg.left(sharpPos).toUtf8());
-      url.setHTMLRef(arg.mid(sharpPos + 1));
-    }
-    else if (!m_args->getOption("page").isEmpty())
-    {
-      url.setHTMLRef(m_args->getOption("page"));
-    }
-    m_openUrl = url;
+    m_openUrl = ShellUtils::urlFromArg(m_args->arg(argIndex),
+        ShellUtils::qfileExistFunc(), m_args->getOption("page"));
   }
   init();
 }
diff --git a/shell/shellutils.cpp b/shell/shellutils.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..26c682512
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell/shellutils.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/***************************************************************************
+ *   Copyright (C) 2009 by Pino Toscano <pino@kde.org>                     *
+ *                                                                         *
+ *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify  *
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by  *
+ *   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or     *
+ *   (at your option) any later version.                                   *
+ ***************************************************************************/
+
+#include "shellutils.h"
+
+// qt/kde includes
+#include <qfile.h>
+#include <qregexp.h>
+#include <kcmdlineargs.h>
+
+namespace ShellUtils
+{
+
+namespace detail
+{
+
+bool qfileExistFunc( const QString& fileName )
+{
+    return QFile::exists( fileName );
+}
+
+}
+
+FileExistFunc qfileExistFunc()
+{
+    return detail::qfileExistFunc;
+}
+
+KUrl urlFromArg( const QString& _arg, FileExistFunc exist_func, const QString& pageArg )
+{
+    /*
+     Rationale for the small "cut-and-paste" work being done below:
+     KCmdLineArgs::makeURL() (used by ::url() encodes any # into the URL itself,
+     so we have to find it manually and build up the URL by taking its ref,
+     if any.
+     */
+    QString arg = _arg;
+    arg.replace( QRegExp( "^file:/{1,3}"), "/" );
+    if ( arg != _arg )
+    {
+        arg = QString::fromUtf8( QByteArray::fromPercentEncoding( arg.toUtf8() ) );
+    }
+    KUrl url = KCmdLineArgs::makeURL( arg.toUtf8() );
+    int sharpPos = -1;
+    if ( !url.isLocalFile() || !exist_func( url.toLocalFile() ) )
+    {
+        sharpPos = arg.lastIndexOf( QLatin1Char( '#' ) );
+    }
+    if ( sharpPos != -1 )
+    {
+      url = KCmdLineArgs::makeURL( arg.left( sharpPos ).toUtf8() );
+      url.setHTMLRef( arg.mid( sharpPos + 1 ) );
+    }
+    else if ( !pageArg.isEmpty() )
+    {
+      url.setHTMLRef( pageArg );
+    }
+    return url;
+}
+
+}
diff --git a/shell/shellutils.h b/shell/shellutils.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6c0c228a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell/shellutils.h
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/***************************************************************************
+ *   Copyright (C) 2009 by Pino Toscano <pino@kde.org>                     *
+ *                                                                         *
+ *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify  *
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by  *
+ *   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or     *
+ *   (at your option) any later version.                                   *
+ ***************************************************************************/
+
+#ifndef OKULAR_SHELLUTILS_H
+#define OKULAR_SHELLUTILS_H
+
+#include <qstring.h>
+
+#include <kurl.h>
+
+namespace ShellUtils
+{
+
+typedef bool (*FileExistFunc)( const QString& fileName );
+
+FileExistFunc qfileExistFunc();
+KUrl urlFromArg( const QString& _arg, FileExistFunc exist_func, const QString& pageArg = QString() );
+
+}
+
+#endif
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 8b6659a62..9f8c288a7 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 set( EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR} )
 
-kde4_add_unit_test( shelltest shelltest.cpp )
+kde4_add_unit_test( shelltest shelltest.cpp ../shell/shellutils.cpp )
 target_link_libraries( shelltest ${KDE4_KDECORE_LIBS} ${QT_QTTEST_LIBRARY} )
diff --git a/tests/shelltest.cpp b/tests/shelltest.cpp
index e16626677..985b78c66 100644
--- a/tests/shelltest.cpp
+++ b/tests/shelltest.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 #include <qdir.h>
 #include <kurl.h>
 
+#include "../shell/shellutils.h"
+
 namespace QTest
 {
 template<>
@@ -29,6 +31,16 @@ static const KUrl makeUrlFromCwd( const QString& u, const QString& ref = QString
     return url;
 }
 
+static bool fileExist_always_Func( const QString& )
+{
+    return true;
+}
+
+static bool fileExist_never_Func( const QString& )
+{
+    return false;
+}
+
 class ShellTest
     : public QObject
 {
@@ -100,24 +112,7 @@ void ShellTest::testUrlArgs()
     QFETCH( bool, exists );
     QFETCH( KUrl, resUrl );
 
-    // note: below is a snippet taken from the Shell ctor
-    const QString origArg = arg;
-    arg.replace(QRegExp("^file:/{1,3}"), "/");
-    if (arg != origArg)
-    {
-        arg = QString::fromUtf8(QByteArray::fromPercentEncoding(arg.toUtf8()));
-    }
-    KUrl url = KCmdLineArgs::makeURL(arg.toUtf8());
-    int sharpPos = -1;
-    if (!url.isLocalFile() || !exists)
-    {
-        sharpPos = arg.lastIndexOf(QLatin1Char('#'));
-    }
-    if (sharpPos != -1)
-    {
-      url = KCmdLineArgs::makeURL(arg.left(sharpPos).toUtf8());
-      url.setHTMLRef(arg.mid(sharpPos + 1));
-    }
+    KUrl url = ShellUtils::urlFromArg( arg, exists ? fileExist_always_Func : fileExist_never_Func );
     QCOMPARE( url, resUrl );
 }