diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index b0f5a61e..fbb31123 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ bin_PROGRAMS	= minerd
 
 EXTRA_DIST	= sha256_generic.c
 
-minerd_SOURCES	= cpu-miner.c
+minerd_SOURCES	= util.c cpu-miner.c miner.h
 minerd_LDFLAGS	= -pthread
 minerd_LDADD	= @LIBCURL@ @JANSSON_LIBS@
 
diff --git a/cpu-miner.c b/cpu-miner.c
index 7685fdb1..2c8149ef 100644
--- a/cpu-miner.c
+++ b/cpu-miner.c
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+
 /*
  * Copyright 2010 Jeff Garzik
  *
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@
 #include <pthread.h>
 #include <argp.h>
 #include <jansson.h>
-#include <curl/curl.h>
+#include "miner.h"
 
 #define PROGRAM_NAME		"minerd"
 #define DEF_RPC_URL		"http://127.0.0.1:8332/"
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ enum {
 };
 
 static bool opt_debug;
-static bool opt_protocol;
+bool opt_protocol = false;
 static bool program_running = true;
 static const bool opt_time = true;
 static int opt_n_threads = 1;
@@ -71,16 +72,6 @@ static error_t parse_opt (int key, char *arg, struct argp_state *state);
 
 static const struct argp argp = { options, parse_opt, NULL, doc };
 
-struct data_buffer {
-	void		*buf;
-	size_t		len;
-};
-
-struct upload_buffer {
-	const void	*buf;
-	size_t		len;
-};
-
 struct work {
 	unsigned char	data[128];
 	unsigned char	hash1[64];
@@ -90,176 +81,6 @@ struct work {
 	unsigned char	hash[32];
 };
 
-static void databuf_free(struct data_buffer *db)
-{
-	if (!db)
-		return;
-	
-	free(db->buf);
-
-	memset(db, 0, sizeof(*db));
-}
-
-static size_t all_data_cb(const void *ptr, size_t size, size_t nmemb,
-			  void *user_data)
-{
-	struct data_buffer *db = user_data;
-	size_t len = size * nmemb;
-	size_t oldlen, newlen;
-	void *newmem;
-	static const unsigned char zero;
-
-	oldlen = db->len;
-	newlen = oldlen + len;
-
-	newmem = realloc(db->buf, newlen + 1);
-	if (!newmem)
-		return 0;
-
-	db->buf = newmem;
-	db->len = newlen;
-	memcpy(db->buf + oldlen, ptr, len);
-	memcpy(db->buf + newlen, &zero, 1);	/* null terminate */
-
-	return len;
-}
-
-static size_t upload_data_cb(void *ptr, size_t size, size_t nmemb,
-			     void *user_data)
-{
-	struct upload_buffer *ub = user_data;
-	int len = size * nmemb;
-
-	if (len > ub->len)
-		len = ub->len;
-
-	if (len) {
-		memcpy(ptr, ub->buf, len);
-		ub->buf += len;
-		ub->len -= len;
-	}
-
-	return len;
-}
-
-static json_t *json_rpc_call(const char *url, const char *rpc_req)
-{
-	CURL *curl;
-	json_t *val;
-	int rc;
-	struct data_buffer all_data = { };
-	struct upload_buffer upload_data;
-	json_error_t err = { };
-	struct curl_slist *headers = NULL;
-	char len_hdr[64];
-
-	curl = curl_easy_init();
-	if (!curl)
-		return NULL;
-
-	if (opt_protocol)
-		curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_VERBOSE, 1);
-	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, url);
-	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_ENCODING, "");
-	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_FAILONERROR, 1);
-	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_TCP_NODELAY, 1);
-	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, all_data_cb);
-	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEDATA, &all_data);
-	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_READFUNCTION, upload_data_cb);
-	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_READDATA, &upload_data);
-	if (userpass) {
-		curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_USERPWD, userpass);
-		curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH, CURLAUTH_BASIC);
-	}
-	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_POST, 1);
-
-	if (opt_protocol)
-		printf("JSON protocol request:\n%s\n", rpc_req);
-
-	upload_data.buf = rpc_req;
-	upload_data.len = strlen(rpc_req);
-	sprintf(len_hdr, "Content-Length: %lu",
-		(unsigned long) upload_data.len);
-
-	headers = curl_slist_append(headers,
-		"Content-type: application/json");
-	headers = curl_slist_append(headers, len_hdr);
-	headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "Expect:"); /* disable Expect hdr*/
-
-	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, headers);
-
-	rc = curl_easy_perform(curl);
-	if (rc)
-		goto err_out;
-
-	val = json_loads(all_data.buf, &err);
-	if (!val) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "JSON failed(%d): %s\n", err.line, err.text);
-		goto err_out;
-	}
-
-	if (opt_protocol) {
-		char *s = json_dumps(val, JSON_INDENT(3));
-		printf("JSON protocol response:\n%s\n", s);
-		free(s);
-	}
-
-	databuf_free(&all_data);
-	curl_slist_free_all(headers);
-	curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
-	return val;
-
-err_out:
-	databuf_free(&all_data);
-	curl_slist_free_all(headers);
-	curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
-	return NULL;
-}
-
-static char *bin2hex(unsigned char *p, size_t len)
-{
-	int i;
-	char *s = malloc((len * 2) + 1);
-	if (!s)
-		return NULL;
-	
-	for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
-		sprintf(s + (i * 2), "%02x", (unsigned int) p[i]);
-
-	return s;
-}
-
-static bool hex2bin(unsigned char *p, const char *hexstr, size_t len)
-{
-	while (*hexstr && len) {
-		char hex_byte[3];
-		unsigned int v;
-
-		if (!hexstr[1]) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "hex2bin str truncated\n");
-			return false;
-		}
-
-		hex_byte[0] = hexstr[0];
-		hex_byte[1] = hexstr[1];
-		hex_byte[2] = 0;
-
-		if (sscanf(hex_byte, "%x", &v) != 1) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "hex2bin sscanf '%s' failed\n",
-				hex_byte);
-			return false;
-		}
-
-		*p = (unsigned char) v;
-
-		p++;
-		hexstr += 2;
-		len--;
-	}
-
-	return (len == 0 && *hexstr == 0) ? true : false;
-}
-
 static bool jobj_binary(const json_t *obj, const char *key,
 			void *buf, size_t buflen)
 {
@@ -401,7 +222,7 @@ static void submit_work(struct work *work)
 		fprintf(stderr, "DBG: sending RPC call:\n%s", s);
 
 	/* issue JSON-RPC request */
-	val = json_rpc_call(rpc_url, s);
+	val = json_rpc_call(rpc_url, userpass, s);
 	if (!val) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "submit_work json_rpc_call failed\n");
 		goto out;
@@ -430,7 +251,7 @@ static void *miner_thread(void *dummy)
 		bool rc;
 
 		/* obtain new work from bitcoin */
-		val = json_rpc_call(rpc_url, rpc_req);
+		val = json_rpc_call(rpc_url, userpass, rpc_req);
 		if (!val) {
 			fprintf(stderr, "json_rpc_call failed\n");
 			return NULL;
diff --git a/miner.h b/miner.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1e5af4f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/miner.h
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#ifndef __MINER_H__
+#define __MINER_H__
+
+#include <stdbool.h>
+#include <jansson.h>
+
+extern bool opt_protocol;
+extern json_t *json_rpc_call(const char *url, const char *userpass,
+			     const char *rpc_req);
+extern char *bin2hex(unsigned char *p, size_t len);
+extern bool hex2bin(unsigned char *p, const char *hexstr, size_t len);
+
+#endif /* __MINER_H__ */
diff --git a/util.c b/util.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..37bd9e81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util.c
@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+
+/*
+ * Copyright 2010 Jeff Garzik
+ *
+ * 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.  See COPYING for more details.
+ */
+
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+#include "cpuminer-config.h"
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <jansson.h>
+#include <curl/curl.h>
+#include "miner.h"
+
+struct data_buffer {
+	void		*buf;
+	size_t		len;
+};
+
+struct upload_buffer {
+	const void	*buf;
+	size_t		len;
+};
+
+static void databuf_free(struct data_buffer *db)
+{
+	if (!db)
+		return;
+	
+	free(db->buf);
+
+	memset(db, 0, sizeof(*db));
+}
+
+static size_t all_data_cb(const void *ptr, size_t size, size_t nmemb,
+			  void *user_data)
+{
+	struct data_buffer *db = user_data;
+	size_t len = size * nmemb;
+	size_t oldlen, newlen;
+	void *newmem;
+	static const unsigned char zero;
+
+	oldlen = db->len;
+	newlen = oldlen + len;
+
+	newmem = realloc(db->buf, newlen + 1);
+	if (!newmem)
+		return 0;
+
+	db->buf = newmem;
+	db->len = newlen;
+	memcpy(db->buf + oldlen, ptr, len);
+	memcpy(db->buf + newlen, &zero, 1);	/* null terminate */
+
+	return len;
+}
+
+static size_t upload_data_cb(void *ptr, size_t size, size_t nmemb,
+			     void *user_data)
+{
+	struct upload_buffer *ub = user_data;
+	int len = size * nmemb;
+
+	if (len > ub->len)
+		len = ub->len;
+
+	if (len) {
+		memcpy(ptr, ub->buf, len);
+		ub->buf += len;
+		ub->len -= len;
+	}
+
+	return len;
+}
+
+json_t *json_rpc_call(const char *url, const char *userpass, const char *rpc_req)
+{
+	CURL *curl;
+	json_t *val;
+	int rc;
+	struct data_buffer all_data = { };
+	struct upload_buffer upload_data;
+	json_error_t err = { };
+	struct curl_slist *headers = NULL;
+	char len_hdr[64];
+
+	curl = curl_easy_init();
+	if (!curl)
+		return NULL;
+
+	if (opt_protocol)
+		curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_VERBOSE, 1);
+	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, url);
+	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_ENCODING, "");
+	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_FAILONERROR, 1);
+	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_TCP_NODELAY, 1);
+	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, all_data_cb);
+	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEDATA, &all_data);
+	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_READFUNCTION, upload_data_cb);
+	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_READDATA, &upload_data);
+	if (userpass) {
+		curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_USERPWD, userpass);
+		curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH, CURLAUTH_BASIC);
+	}
+	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_POST, 1);
+
+	if (opt_protocol)
+		printf("JSON protocol request:\n%s\n", rpc_req);
+
+	upload_data.buf = rpc_req;
+	upload_data.len = strlen(rpc_req);
+	sprintf(len_hdr, "Content-Length: %lu",
+		(unsigned long) upload_data.len);
+
+	headers = curl_slist_append(headers,
+		"Content-type: application/json");
+	headers = curl_slist_append(headers, len_hdr);
+	headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "Expect:"); /* disable Expect hdr*/
+
+	curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, headers);
+
+	rc = curl_easy_perform(curl);
+	if (rc)
+		goto err_out;
+
+	val = json_loads(all_data.buf, &err);
+	if (!val) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "JSON failed(%d): %s\n", err.line, err.text);
+		goto err_out;
+	}
+
+	if (opt_protocol) {
+		char *s = json_dumps(val, JSON_INDENT(3));
+		printf("JSON protocol response:\n%s\n", s);
+		free(s);
+	}
+
+	databuf_free(&all_data);
+	curl_slist_free_all(headers);
+	curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
+	return val;
+
+err_out:
+	databuf_free(&all_data);
+	curl_slist_free_all(headers);
+	curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+char *bin2hex(unsigned char *p, size_t len)
+{
+	int i;
+	char *s = malloc((len * 2) + 1);
+	if (!s)
+		return NULL;
+	
+	for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
+		sprintf(s + (i * 2), "%02x", (unsigned int) p[i]);
+
+	return s;
+}
+
+bool hex2bin(unsigned char *p, const char *hexstr, size_t len)
+{
+	while (*hexstr && len) {
+		char hex_byte[3];
+		unsigned int v;
+
+		if (!hexstr[1]) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "hex2bin str truncated\n");
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		hex_byte[0] = hexstr[0];
+		hex_byte[1] = hexstr[1];
+		hex_byte[2] = 0;
+
+		if (sscanf(hex_byte, "%x", &v) != 1) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "hex2bin sscanf '%s' failed\n",
+				hex_byte);
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		*p = (unsigned char) v;
+
+		p++;
+		hexstr += 2;
+		len--;
+	}
+
+	return (len == 0 && *hexstr == 0) ? true : false;
+}
+