diff --git a/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/PacketReader.java b/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/PacketReader.java
index cfe3464aa..f3d739c1e 100644
--- a/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/PacketReader.java
+++ b/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/PacketReader.java
@@ -24,14 +24,11 @@ import org.xmlpull.v1.*;
 
 import java.util.*;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
-import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.packet.*;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.packet.XMPPError;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.filter.PacketFilter;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.util.*;
-import org.jivesoftware.smack.util.StringUtils;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.provider.*;
 
 /**
@@ -44,12 +41,6 @@ import org.jivesoftware.smack.provider.*;
  */
 class PacketReader {
 
-    /**
-     * Namespace used to store packet properties.
-     */
-    private static final String PROPERTIES_NAMESPACE =
-            "http://www.jivesoftware.com/xmlns/xmpp/properties";
-
     private Thread readerThread;
     private Thread listenerThread;
 
@@ -245,13 +236,13 @@ class PacketReader {
             do {
                 if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
                     if (parser.getName().equals("message")) {
-                        processPacket(parseMessage(parser));
+                        processPacket(PacketParserUtils.parseMessage(parser));
                     }
                     else if (parser.getName().equals("iq")) {
                         processPacket(parseIQ(parser));
                     }
                     else if (parser.getName().equals("presence")) {
-                        processPacket(parsePresence(parser));
+                        processPacket(PacketParserUtils.parsePresence(parser));
                     }
                     // We found an opening stream. Record information about it, then notify
                     // the connectionID lock so that the packet reader startup can finish.
@@ -349,7 +340,7 @@ class PacketReader {
                 String elementName = parser.getName();
                 String namespace = parser.getNamespace();
                 if (elementName.equals("error")) {
-                    error = parseError(parser);
+                    error = PacketParserUtils.parseError(parser);
                 }
                 else if (elementName.equals("query") && namespace.equals("jabber:iq:auth")) {
                     iqPacket = parseAuthentication(parser);
@@ -381,11 +372,11 @@ class PacketReader {
                 }
             }
         }
-        // Decide what to do when an IQ packet was not understood 
+        // Decide what to do when an IQ packet was not understood
         if (iqPacket == null) {
             if (IQ.Type.GET == type || IQ.Type.SET == type ) {
-                // If the IQ stanza is of type "get" or "set" containing a child element 
-                // qualified by a namespace it does not understand, then answer an IQ of 
+                // If the IQ stanza is of type "get" or "set" containing a child element
+                // qualified by a namespace it does not understand, then answer an IQ of
                 // type "error" with code 501 ("feature-not-implemented")
                 iqPacket = new IQ() {
                     public String getChildElementXML() {
@@ -409,7 +400,7 @@ class PacketReader {
                 };
             }
         }
-        
+
         // Set basic values on the iq packet.
         iqPacket.setPacketID(id);
         iqPacket.setTo(to);
@@ -538,257 +529,6 @@ class PacketReader {
         return registration;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Parses error sub-packets.
-     *
-     * @param parser the XML parser.
-     * @return an error sub-packet.
-     * @throws Exception if an exception occurs while parsing the packet.
-     */
-    private XMPPError parseError(XmlPullParser parser) throws Exception {
-        String errorCode = "-1";
-        String message = null;
-        for (int i=0; i<parser.getAttributeCount(); i++) {
-            if (parser.getAttributeName(i).equals("code")) {
-                errorCode = parser.getAttributeValue("", "code");
-            }
-        }
-        // Get the error text in a safe way since we are not sure about the error message format
-        try {
-            message = parser.nextText();
-        }
-        catch (XmlPullParserException ex) {}
-        while (true) {
-            if (parser.getEventType() == XmlPullParser.END_TAG && parser.getName().equals("error")) {
-                break;
-            }
-            parser.next();
-        }
-        return new XMPPError(Integer.parseInt(errorCode), message);
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Parses a message packet.
-     *
-     * @param parser the XML parser, positioned at the start of a message packet.
-     * @return a Message packet.
-     * @throws Exception if an exception occurs while parsing the packet.
-     */
-    private Packet parseMessage(XmlPullParser parser) throws Exception {
-        Message message = new Message();
-        String id = parser.getAttributeValue("", "id");
-        message.setPacketID(id == null ? Packet.ID_NOT_AVAILABLE : id);
-        message.setTo(parser.getAttributeValue("", "to"));
-        message.setFrom(parser.getAttributeValue("", "from"));
-        message.setType(Message.Type.fromString(parser.getAttributeValue("", "type")));
-
-        // Parse sub-elements. We include extra logic to make sure the values
-        // are only read once. This is because it's possible for the names to appear
-        // in arbitrary sub-elements.
-        boolean done = false;
-        String subject = null;
-        String body = null;
-        String thread = null;
-        Map properties = null;
-        while (!done) {
-            int eventType = parser.next();
-            if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-                String elementName = parser.getName();
-                String namespace = parser.getNamespace();
-                if (elementName.equals("subject")) {
-                    if (subject == null) {
-                        subject = parser.nextText();
-                    }
-                }
-                else if (elementName.equals("body")) {
-                    if (body == null) {
-                        body = parser.nextText();
-                    }
-                }
-                else if (elementName.equals("thread")) {
-                    if (thread == null) {
-                        thread = parser.nextText();
-                    }
-                }
-                else if (elementName.equals("error")) {
-                    message.setError(parseError(parser));
-                }
-                else if (elementName.equals("properties") &&
-                        namespace.equals(PROPERTIES_NAMESPACE))
-                {
-                    properties = parseProperties(parser);
-                }
-                // Otherwise, it must be a packet extension.
-                else {
-                    message.addExtension(
-                    PacketParserUtils.parsePacketExtension(elementName, namespace, parser));
-                }
-            }
-            else if (eventType == XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
-                if (parser.getName().equals("message")) {
-                    done = true;
-                }
-            }
-        }
-        message.setSubject(subject);
-        message.setBody(body);
-        message.setThread(thread);
-        // Set packet properties.
-        if (properties != null) {
-            for (Iterator i=properties.keySet().iterator(); i.hasNext(); ) {
-                String name = (String)i.next();
-                message.setProperty(name, properties.get(name));
-            }
-        }
-        return message;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Parses a presence packet.
-     *
-     * @param parser the XML parser, positioned at the start of a presence packet.
-     * @return a Presence packet.
-     * @throws Exception if an exception occurs while parsing the packet.
-     */
-    private Presence parsePresence(XmlPullParser parser) throws Exception {
-        Presence.Type type = Presence.Type.fromString(parser.getAttributeValue("", "type"));
-
-        Presence presence = new Presence(type);
-        presence.setTo(parser.getAttributeValue("", "to"));
-        presence.setFrom(parser.getAttributeValue("", "from"));
-        String id = parser.getAttributeValue("", "id");
-        presence.setPacketID(id == null ? Packet.ID_NOT_AVAILABLE : id);
-
-        // Parse sub-elements
-        boolean done = false;
-        while (!done) {
-            int eventType = parser.next();
-            if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-                String elementName = parser.getName();
-                String namespace = parser.getNamespace();
-                if (elementName.equals("status")) {
-                    presence.setStatus(parser.nextText());
-                }
-                else if (elementName.equals("priority")) {
-                    try {
-                        int priority = Integer.parseInt(parser.nextText());
-                        presence.setPriority(priority);
-                    }
-                    catch (NumberFormatException nfe) { }
-                }
-                else if (elementName.equals("show")) {
-                    presence.setMode(Presence.Mode.fromString(parser.nextText()));
-                }
-                else if (elementName.equals("error")) {
-                    presence.setError(parseError(parser));
-                }
-                else if (elementName.equals("properties") &&
-                        namespace.equals(PROPERTIES_NAMESPACE))
-                {
-                    Map properties = parseProperties(parser);
-                    // Set packet properties.
-                    for (Iterator i=properties.keySet().iterator(); i.hasNext(); ) {
-                        String name = (String)i.next();
-                        presence.setProperty(name, properties.get(name));
-                    }
-                }
-                // Otherwise, it must be a packet extension.
-                else {
-                    presence.addExtension(
-                        PacketParserUtils.parsePacketExtension(elementName, namespace, parser));
-                }
-            }
-            else if (eventType == XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
-                if (parser.getName().equals("presence")) {
-                    done = true;
-                }
-            }
-        }
-        return presence;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Parse a properties sub-packet. If any errors occur while de-serializing Java object
-     * properties, an exception will be printed and not thrown since a thrown
-     * exception will shut down the entire connection. ClassCastExceptions will occur
-     * when both the sender and receiver of the packet don't have identical versions
-     * of the same class.
-     *
-     * @param parser the XML parser, positioned at the start of a properties sub-packet.
-     * @return a map of the properties.
-     * @throws Exception if an error occurs while parsing the properties.
-     */
-    private Map parseProperties(XmlPullParser parser) throws Exception {
-        Map properties = new HashMap();
-        while (true) {
-            int eventType = parser.next();
-            if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG && parser.getName().equals("property")) {
-                // Parse a property
-                boolean done = false;
-                String name = null;
-                String type = null;
-                String valueText = null;
-                Object value = null;
-                while (!done) {
-                    eventType = parser.next();
-                    if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-                        String elementName = parser.getName();
-                        String namespace = parser.getNamespace();
-                        if (elementName.equals("name")) {
-                            name = parser.nextText();
-                        }
-                        else if (elementName.equals("value")) {
-                            type = parser.getAttributeValue("", "type");
-                            valueText = parser.nextText();
-                        }
-                    }
-                    else if (eventType == XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
-                        if (parser.getName().equals("property")) {
-                            if ("integer".equals(type)) {
-                                value = new Integer(valueText);
-                            }
-                            else if ("long".equals(type))  {
-                                value = new Long(valueText);
-                            }
-                            else if ("float".equals(type)) {
-                                value = new Float(valueText);
-                            }
-                            else if ("double".equals(type)) {
-                                value = new Double(valueText);
-                            }
-                            else if ("boolean".equals(type)) {
-                                value = new Boolean(valueText);
-                            }
-                            else if ("string".equals(type)) {
-                                value = valueText;
-                            }
-                            else if ("java-object".equals(type)) {
-                                try {
-                                    byte [] bytes = StringUtils.decodeBase64(valueText);
-                                    ObjectInputStream in = new ObjectInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes));
-                                    value = in.readObject();
-                                }
-                                catch (Exception e) {
-                                    e.printStackTrace();
-                                }
-                            }
-                            if (name != null && value != null) {
-                                properties.put(name, value);
-                            }
-                            done = true;
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-            else if (eventType == XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
-                if (parser.getName().equals("properties")) {
-                    break;
-                }
-            }
-        }
-        return properties;
-    }
-
     /**
      * A wrapper class to associate a packet collector with a listener.
      */
diff --git a/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/PacketParserUtils.java b/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/PacketParserUtils.java
index 8b5cd1bd7..374253dfe 100644
--- a/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/PacketParserUtils.java
+++ b/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/PacketParserUtils.java
@@ -21,12 +21,17 @@
 package org.jivesoftware.smack.util;
 
 import java.beans.PropertyDescriptor;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 
-import org.jivesoftware.smack.packet.DefaultPacketExtension;
-import org.jivesoftware.smack.packet.PacketExtension;
+import org.jivesoftware.smack.packet.*;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.provider.PacketExtensionProvider;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.provider.ProviderManager;
 import org.xmlpull.v1.XmlPullParser;
+import org.xmlpull.v1.XmlPullParserException;
 
 /**
  * Utility class that helps to parse packets. Any parsing packets method that must be shared
@@ -36,6 +41,262 @@ import org.xmlpull.v1.XmlPullParser;
  */
 public class PacketParserUtils {
 
+    /**
+     * Namespace used to store packet properties.
+     */
+    private static final String PROPERTIES_NAMESPACE =
+            "http://www.jivesoftware.com/xmlns/xmpp/properties";
+
+    /**
+     * Parses a message packet.
+     *
+     * @param parser the XML parser, positioned at the start of a message packet.
+     * @return a Message packet.
+     * @throws Exception if an exception occurs while parsing the packet.
+     */
+    public static Packet parseMessage(XmlPullParser parser) throws Exception {
+        Message message = new Message();
+        String id = parser.getAttributeValue("", "id");
+        message.setPacketID(id == null ? Packet.ID_NOT_AVAILABLE : id);
+        message.setTo(parser.getAttributeValue("", "to"));
+        message.setFrom(parser.getAttributeValue("", "from"));
+        message.setType(Message.Type.fromString(parser.getAttributeValue("", "type")));
+
+        // Parse sub-elements. We include extra logic to make sure the values
+        // are only read once. This is because it's possible for the names to appear
+        // in arbitrary sub-elements.
+        boolean done = false;
+        String subject = null;
+        String body = null;
+        String thread = null;
+        Map properties = null;
+        while (!done) {
+            int eventType = parser.next();
+            if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
+                String elementName = parser.getName();
+                String namespace = parser.getNamespace();
+                if (elementName.equals("subject")) {
+                    if (subject == null) {
+                        subject = parser.nextText();
+                    }
+                }
+                else if (elementName.equals("body")) {
+                    if (body == null) {
+                        body = parser.nextText();
+                    }
+                }
+                else if (elementName.equals("thread")) {
+                    if (thread == null) {
+                        thread = parser.nextText();
+                    }
+                }
+                else if (elementName.equals("error")) {
+                    message.setError(parseError(parser));
+                }
+                else if (elementName.equals("properties") &&
+                        namespace.equals(PROPERTIES_NAMESPACE))
+                {
+                    properties = parseProperties(parser);
+                }
+                // Otherwise, it must be a packet extension.
+                else {
+                    message.addExtension(
+                    PacketParserUtils.parsePacketExtension(elementName, namespace, parser));
+                }
+            }
+            else if (eventType == XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
+                if (parser.getName().equals("message")) {
+                    done = true;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        message.setSubject(subject);
+        message.setBody(body);
+        message.setThread(thread);
+        // Set packet properties.
+        if (properties != null) {
+            for (Iterator i=properties.keySet().iterator(); i.hasNext(); ) {
+                String name = (String)i.next();
+                message.setProperty(name, properties.get(name));
+            }
+        }
+        return message;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Parses a presence packet.
+     *
+     * @param parser the XML parser, positioned at the start of a presence packet.
+     * @return a Presence packet.
+     * @throws Exception if an exception occurs while parsing the packet.
+     */
+    public static Presence parsePresence(XmlPullParser parser) throws Exception {
+        Presence.Type type = Presence.Type.fromString(parser.getAttributeValue("", "type"));
+
+        Presence presence = new Presence(type);
+        presence.setTo(parser.getAttributeValue("", "to"));
+        presence.setFrom(parser.getAttributeValue("", "from"));
+        String id = parser.getAttributeValue("", "id");
+        presence.setPacketID(id == null ? Packet.ID_NOT_AVAILABLE : id);
+
+        // Parse sub-elements
+        boolean done = false;
+        while (!done) {
+            int eventType = parser.next();
+            if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
+                String elementName = parser.getName();
+                String namespace = parser.getNamespace();
+                if (elementName.equals("status")) {
+                    presence.setStatus(parser.nextText());
+                }
+                else if (elementName.equals("priority")) {
+                    try {
+                        int priority = Integer.parseInt(parser.nextText());
+                        presence.setPriority(priority);
+                    }
+                    catch (NumberFormatException nfe) { }
+                }
+                else if (elementName.equals("show")) {
+                    presence.setMode(Presence.Mode.fromString(parser.nextText()));
+                }
+                else if (elementName.equals("error")) {
+                    presence.setError(parseError(parser));
+                }
+                else if (elementName.equals("properties") &&
+                        namespace.equals(PROPERTIES_NAMESPACE))
+                {
+                    Map properties = parseProperties(parser);
+                    // Set packet properties.
+                    for (Iterator i=properties.keySet().iterator(); i.hasNext(); ) {
+                        String name = (String)i.next();
+                        presence.setProperty(name, properties.get(name));
+                    }
+                }
+                // Otherwise, it must be a packet extension.
+                else {
+                    presence.addExtension(
+                        PacketParserUtils.parsePacketExtension(elementName, namespace, parser));
+                }
+            }
+            else if (eventType == XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
+                if (parser.getName().equals("presence")) {
+                    done = true;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return presence;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Parse a properties sub-packet. If any errors occur while de-serializing Java object
+     * properties, an exception will be printed and not thrown since a thrown
+     * exception will shut down the entire connection. ClassCastExceptions will occur
+     * when both the sender and receiver of the packet don't have identical versions
+     * of the same class.
+     *
+     * @param parser the XML parser, positioned at the start of a properties sub-packet.
+     * @return a map of the properties.
+     * @throws Exception if an error occurs while parsing the properties.
+     */
+    private static Map parseProperties(XmlPullParser parser) throws Exception {
+        Map properties = new HashMap();
+        while (true) {
+            int eventType = parser.next();
+            if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG && parser.getName().equals("property")) {
+                // Parse a property
+                boolean done = false;
+                String name = null;
+                String type = null;
+                String valueText = null;
+                Object value = null;
+                while (!done) {
+                    eventType = parser.next();
+                    if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
+                        String elementName = parser.getName();
+                        if (elementName.equals("name")) {
+                            name = parser.nextText();
+                        }
+                        else if (elementName.equals("value")) {
+                            type = parser.getAttributeValue("", "type");
+                            valueText = parser.nextText();
+                        }
+                    }
+                    else if (eventType == XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
+                        if (parser.getName().equals("property")) {
+                            if ("integer".equals(type)) {
+                                value = new Integer(valueText);
+                            }
+                            else if ("long".equals(type))  {
+                                value = new Long(valueText);
+                            }
+                            else if ("float".equals(type)) {
+                                value = new Float(valueText);
+                            }
+                            else if ("double".equals(type)) {
+                                value = new Double(valueText);
+                            }
+                            else if ("boolean".equals(type)) {
+                                value = new Boolean(valueText);
+                            }
+                            else if ("string".equals(type)) {
+                                value = valueText;
+                            }
+                            else if ("java-object".equals(type)) {
+                                try {
+                                    byte [] bytes = StringUtils.decodeBase64(valueText);
+                                    ObjectInputStream in = new ObjectInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes));
+                                    value = in.readObject();
+                                }
+                                catch (Exception e) {
+                                    e.printStackTrace();
+                                }
+                            }
+                            if (name != null && value != null) {
+                                properties.put(name, value);
+                            }
+                            done = true;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            else if (eventType == XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
+                if (parser.getName().equals("properties")) {
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return properties;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Parses error sub-packets.
+     *
+     * @param parser the XML parser.
+     * @return an error sub-packet.
+     * @throws Exception if an exception occurs while parsing the packet.
+     */
+    public static XMPPError parseError(XmlPullParser parser) throws Exception {
+        String errorCode = "-1";
+        String message = null;
+        for (int i=0; i<parser.getAttributeCount(); i++) {
+            if (parser.getAttributeName(i).equals("code")) {
+                errorCode = parser.getAttributeValue("", "code");
+            }
+        }
+        // Get the error text in a safe way since we are not sure about the error message format
+        try {
+            message = parser.nextText();
+        }
+        catch (XmlPullParserException ex) {}
+        while (true) {
+            if (parser.getEventType() == XmlPullParser.END_TAG && parser.getName().equals("error")) {
+                break;
+            }
+            parser.next();
+        }
+        return new XMPPError(Integer.parseInt(errorCode), message);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Parses a packet extension sub-packet.
      *