diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/extend/string.rb b/Library/Homebrew/extend/string.rb
index 23fea8b2c9..57630a7010 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/extend/string.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/extend/string.rb
@@ -3,3 +3,28 @@ class String
     gsub(/^.{#{slice(/^ +/).length}}/, '')
   end
 end
+
+# used by the inreplace function (in utils.rb)
+module StringInreplaceExtension
+  # Looks for Makefile style variable defintions and replaces the
+  # value with "new_value", or removes the definition entirely.
+  def change_make_var! flag, new_value
+    new_value = "#{flag}=#{new_value}"
+    gsub! Regexp.new("^#{flag}[ \\t]*=[ \\t]*(.*)$"), new_value
+  end
+
+  # Removes variable assignments completely.
+  def remove_make_var! flags
+    flags.each do |flag|
+      # Also remove trailing \n, if present.
+      gsub! Regexp.new("^#{flag}[ \\t]*=(.*)$\n?"), ""
+    end
+  end
+
+  # Finds the specified variable
+  def get_make_var flag
+    m = match Regexp.new("^#{flag}[ \\t]*=[ \\t]*(.*)$")
+    return m[1] if m
+    return nil
+  end
+end
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/test_inreplace.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/test_inreplace.rb
index 520b41ad6b..a128b63c99 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/test/test_inreplace.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/test_inreplace.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 require 'testing_env'
 require 'utils'
+require 'extend/string'
 
 class InreplaceTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def test_change_make_var
     # Replace flag
     s1="OTHER=def\nFLAG = abc\nFLAG2=abc"
-    s1.extend(HomebrewInreplaceExtension)
+    s1.extend(StringInreplaceExtension)
     s1.change_make_var! "FLAG", "def"
     assert_equal "OTHER=def\nFLAG=def\nFLAG2=abc", s1
   end
@@ -13,7 +14,7 @@ class InreplaceTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def test_change_make_var_empty
     # Replace empty flag
     s1="OTHER=def\nFLAG = \nFLAG2=abc"
-    s1.extend(HomebrewInreplaceExtension)
+    s1.extend(StringInreplaceExtension)
     s1.change_make_var! "FLAG", "def"
     assert_equal "OTHER=def\nFLAG=def\nFLAG2=abc", s1
   end
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ class InreplaceTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def test_change_make_var_empty_2
     # Replace empty flag
     s1="FLAG = \nmv file_a file_b"
-    s1.extend(HomebrewInreplaceExtension)
+    s1.extend(StringInreplaceExtension)
     s1.change_make_var! "FLAG", "def"
     assert_equal "FLAG=def\nmv file_a file_b", s1
   end
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ class InreplaceTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def test_change_make_var_append
     # Append to flag
     s1="OTHER=def\nFLAG = abc\nFLAG2=abc"
-    s1.extend(HomebrewInreplaceExtension)
+    s1.extend(StringInreplaceExtension)
     s1.change_make_var! "FLAG", "\\1 def"
     assert_equal "OTHER=def\nFLAG=abc def\nFLAG2=abc", s1
   end
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ class InreplaceTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def test_change_make_var_shell_style
     # Shell variables have no spaces around =
     s1="OTHER=def\nFLAG=abc\nFLAG2=abc"
-    s1.extend(HomebrewInreplaceExtension)
+    s1.extend(StringInreplaceExtension)
     s1.change_make_var! "FLAG", "def"
     assert_equal "OTHER=def\nFLAG=def\nFLAG2=abc", s1
   end
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ class InreplaceTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def test_remove_make_var
     # Replace flag
     s1="OTHER=def\nFLAG = abc\nFLAG2 = def"
-    s1.extend(HomebrewInreplaceExtension)
+    s1.extend(StringInreplaceExtension)
     s1.remove_make_var! "FLAG"
     assert_equal "OTHER=def\nFLAG2 = def", s1
   end
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ class InreplaceTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def test_remove_make_vars
     # Replace flag
     s1="OTHER=def\nFLAG = abc\nFLAG2 = def\nOTHER2=def"
-    s1.extend(HomebrewInreplaceExtension)
+    s1.extend(StringInreplaceExtension)
     s1.remove_make_var! ["FLAG", "FLAG2"]
     assert_equal "OTHER=def\nOTHER2=def", s1
   end
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb b/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
index 6dedf764b9..e478670fb4 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
@@ -169,36 +169,13 @@ def archs_for_command cmd
   archs.extend(ArchitectureListExtension)
 end
 
-# String extensions added by inreplace below.
-module HomebrewInreplaceExtension
-  # Looks for Makefile style variable defintions and replaces the
-  # value with "new_value", or removes the definition entirely.
-  def change_make_var! flag, new_value
-    new_value = "#{flag}=#{new_value}"
-    gsub! Regexp.new("^#{flag}[ \\t]*=[ \\t]*(.*)$"), new_value
-  end
-  # Removes variable assignments completely.
-  def remove_make_var! flags
-    flags.each do |flag|
-      # Also remove trailing \n, if present.
-      gsub! Regexp.new("^#{flag}[ \\t]*=(.*)$\n?"), ""
-    end
-  end
-  # Finds the specified variable
-  def get_make_var flag
-    m = match Regexp.new("^#{flag}[ \\t]*=[ \\t]*(.*)$")
-    return m[1] if m
-    return nil
-  end
-end
-
 def inreplace path, before=nil, after=nil
   [*path].each do |path|
     f = File.open(path, 'r')
     s = f.read
 
     if before == nil and after == nil
-      s.extend(HomebrewInreplaceExtension)
+      s.extend(StringInreplaceExtension)
       yield s
     else
       s.gsub!(before, after)