diff --git a/system/helpers/email_helper.php b/system/helpers/email_helper.php
index b44fae5..e677afd 100644
--- a/system/helpers/email_helper.php
+++ b/system/helpers/email_helper.php
@@ -33,9 +33,12 @@
  * @access	public
  * @return	bool
  */	
-function valid_email($address)
+if (! function_exists('valid_email'))
 {
-	return ( ! preg_match("/^([a-z0-9\+_\-]+)(\.[a-z0-9\+_\-]+)*@([a-z0-9\-]+\.)+[a-z]{2,6}$/ix", $address)) ? FALSE : TRUE;
+	function valid_email($address)
+	{
+		return ( ! preg_match("/^([a-z0-9\+_\-]+)(\.[a-z0-9\+_\-]+)*@([a-z0-9\-]+\.)+[a-z]{2,6}$/ix", $address)) ? FALSE : TRUE;
+	}
 }
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -46,9 +49,12 @@
  * @access	public
  * @return	bool
  */	
-function send_email($recipient, $subject = 'Test email', $message = 'Hello World')
+if (! function_exists('send_email'))
 {
-	return mail($recipient, $subject, $message);
+	function send_email($recipient, $subject = 'Test email', $message = 'Hello World')
+	{
+		return mail($recipient, $subject, $message);
+	}
 }
 
 ?>
\ No newline at end of file