diff --git a/system/codeigniter/Common.php b/system/codeigniter/Common.php
index b6f0a46..d9ddf80 100644
--- a/system/codeigniter/Common.php
+++ b/system/codeigniter/Common.php
@@ -30,6 +30,44 @@
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 /**
+ * Tests for file writability
+ *
+ * is_writable() returns TRUE on Windows servers
+ * when you really can't write to the file
+ * as the OS reports to PHP as FALSE only if the
+ * read-only attribute is marked.  Ugh?
+ *
+ * @access	private
+ * @return	void
+ */	
+function is_really_writable($file)
+{
+	if (is_dir($file))
+	{
+		$file = rtrim($file, '/').'/'.md5(rand(1,100));
+		
+		if (($fp = @fopen($file, 'ab')) === FALSE)
+		{
+			return FALSE;
+		}
+		
+		fclose($fp);
+		@chmod($file, 0777);
+		@unlink($file);
+		return TRUE;
+	}
+	elseif (($fp = @fopen($file, 'ab')) === FALSE)
+	{
+		return FALSE;
+	}
+
+	fclose($fp);
+	return TRUE;
+}
+
+// ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/**
 * Class registry
 *
 * This function acts as a singleton.  If the requested class does not
diff --git a/system/database/DB_cache.php b/system/database/DB_cache.php
index 44b8e81..ad54fc3 100644
--- a/system/database/DB_cache.php
+++ b/system/database/DB_cache.php
@@ -63,9 +63,6 @@
 	
 		// Add a trailing slash to the path if needed
 		$path = preg_replace("/(.+?)\/*$/", "\\1/",  $path);
-		
-		// Load the file helper
-		$this->CI->load->helper('file');
 
 		if ( ! is_dir($path) OR ! is_really_writable($path))
 		{
diff --git a/system/helpers/file_helper.php b/system/helpers/file_helper.php
index 5fb31cf..868561b 100644
--- a/system/helpers/file_helper.php
+++ b/system/helpers/file_helper.php
@@ -178,39 +178,4 @@
 
 // --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-/**
- * Tests for file writability
- *
- * is_writable() returns TRUE on Windows servers
- * when you really can't write to the file
- * as the OS reports to PHP as FALSE only if the
- * read-only attribute is marked.  Ugh?
- *
- * @access	private
- * @return	void
- */	
-function is_really_writable($file)
-{
-	if (is_dir($file))
-	{
-		$file = rtrim($file, '/').'/'.md5(rand(1,100));
-		
-		if (($fp = @fopen($file, 'ab')) === FALSE)
-		{
-			return FALSE;
-		}
-		
-		fclose($fp);
-		@chmod($file, 0777);
-		@unlink($file);
-		return TRUE;
-	}
-	elseif (($fp = @fopen($file, 'ab')) === FALSE)
-	{
-		return FALSE;
-	}
-
-	fclose($fp);
-	return TRUE;
-}
 ?>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/system/libraries/Log.php b/system/libraries/Log.php
index 011bdbf..f9ca85a 100644
--- a/system/libraries/Log.php
+++ b/system/libraries/Log.php
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
 		
 		$this->log_path = ($config['log_path'] != '') ? $config['log_path'] : BASEPATH.'logs/';
 		
-		if ( ! is_dir($this->log_path) OR ! is_writable($this->log_path))
+		if ( ! is_dir($this->log_path) OR ! is_really_writable($this->log_path))
 		{
 			$this->_enabled = FALSE;
 		}
diff --git a/system/libraries/Output.php b/system/libraries/Output.php
index f98dab5..a4d8d34 100644
--- a/system/libraries/Output.php
+++ b/system/libraries/Output.php
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@
 	
 		$cache_path = ($path == '') ? BASEPATH.'cache/' : $path;
 		
-		if ( ! is_dir($cache_path) OR ! is_writable($cache_path))
+		if ( ! is_dir($cache_path) OR ! is_really_writable($cache_path))
 		{
 			return;
 		}
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@
 	
 		$cache_path = ($CFG->item('cache_path') == '') ? BASEPATH.'cache/' : $CFG->item('cache_path');
 			
-		if ( ! is_dir($cache_path) OR ! is_writable($cache_path))
+		if ( ! is_dir($cache_path) OR ! is_really_writable($cache_path))
 		{
 			return FALSE;
 		}
diff --git a/system/libraries/Upload.php b/system/libraries/Upload.php
index 39f1ed5..dd70122 100644
--- a/system/libraries/Upload.php
+++ b/system/libraries/Upload.php
@@ -641,7 +641,7 @@
 			return FALSE;
 		}
 
-		if ( ! is_writable($this->upload_path))
+		if ( ! is_really_writable($this->upload_path))
 		{
 			$this->set_error('upload_not_writable');
 			return FALSE;
diff --git a/system/plugins/captcha_pi.php b/system/plugins/captcha_pi.php
index 11d4564..693fd91 100644
--- a/system/plugins/captcha_pi.php
+++ b/system/plugins/captcha_pi.php
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@
 		return FALSE;
 	}
 	
-	if ( ! is_writable($img_path))
+	if ( ! is_really_writable($img_path))
 	{
 		return FALSE;
 	}