diff --git a/pelican/__init__.py b/pelican/__init__.py
index 915d92c7..f0684d65 100755
--- a/pelican/__init__.py
+++ b/pelican/__init__.py
@@ -10,71 +10,79 @@ from pelican.generators import (ArticlesGenerator, PagesGenerator,
 VERSION = "2.5.3"
 
 
-def init_params(settings=None, path=None, theme=None, output_path=None,
-        markup=None, keep=False):
-    """Read the settings, and performs some checks on the environment
-    before doing anything else.
-    """
-    if settings is None:
-        settings = {}
-    settings = read_settings(settings)
-    path = path or settings['PATH']
-    if path.endswith('/'):
-        path = path[:-1]
+class Pelican(object):
+    def __init__(self, settings=None, path=None, theme=None, output_path=None,
+            markup=None, keep=False):
+        """Read the settings, and performs some checks on the environment
+        before doing anything else.
+        """
+        self.path = path or settings['PATH']
+        if self.path.endswith('/'):
+            self.path = path[:-1]
 
-    # define the default settings
-    theme = theme or settings['THEME']
-    output_path = output_path or settings['OUTPUT_PATH']
-    output_path = os.path.realpath(output_path)
-    markup = markup or settings['MARKUP']
-    keep = keep or settings['KEEP_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY']
+        # define the default settings
+        self.settings = settings
+        self.theme = theme or settings['THEME']
+        self.path = path
+        output_path = output_path or settings['OUTPUT_PATH']
+        self.output_path = os.path.realpath(output_path)
+        self.markup = markup or settings['MARKUP']
+        self.keep = keep or settings['KEEP_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY']
 
-    # find the theme in pelican.theme if the given one does not exists
-    if not os.path.exists(theme):
-        theme_path = os.sep.join([os.path.dirname(
-            os.path.abspath(__file__)), "themes/%s" % theme])
-        if os.path.exists(theme_path):
-            theme = theme_path
-        else:
-            raise Exception("Impossible to find the theme %s" % theme)
+        # find the theme in pelican.theme if the given one does not exists
+        if not os.path.exists(self.theme):
+            theme_path = os.sep.join([os.path.dirname(
+                os.path.abspath(__file__)), "themes/%s" % self.theme])
+            if os.path.exists(theme_path):
+                self.theme = theme_path
+            else:
+                raise Exception("Impossible to find the theme %s" % theme)
 
-    # get the list of files to parse
-    if not path:
-        raise Exception('you need to specify a path to search the docs on !')
-
-    return settings, path, theme, output_path, markup, keep
+        # get the list of files to parse
+        if not self.path:
+            raise Exception('you need to specify a path to search the docs on !')
 
 
-def run_generators(generators, settings, path, theme, output_path, markup, keep):
-    """Run the generators and return"""
+    def run(self):
+        """Run the generators and return"""
 
-    context = settings.copy()
-    generators = [p(context, settings, path, theme, output_path, markup, keep)
-            for p in generators]
+        context = self.settings.copy()
+        generators = [
+            cls(
+                context,
+                self.settings,
+                self.path,
+                self.theme,
+                self.output_path,
+                self.markup,
+                self.keep
+            ) for cls in self.get_generator_classes()
+        ]
 
-    for p in generators:
-        if hasattr(p, 'generate_context'):
-            p.generate_context()
+        for p in generators:
+            if hasattr(p, 'generate_context'):
+                p.generate_context()
 
-    # erase the directory if it is not the source
-    if output_path not in os.path.realpath(path) and not keep:
-        clean_output_dir(output_path)
+        # erase the directory if it is not the source
+        if os.path.realpath(self.path).startswith(self.output_path) and not keep:
+            clean_output_dir(self.output_path)
 
-    writer = Writer(output_path)
+        writer = self.get_writer()
 
-    for p in generators:
-        if hasattr(p, 'generate_output'):
-            p.generate_output(writer)
+        for p in generators:
+            if hasattr(p, 'generate_output'):
+                p.generate_output(writer)
 
 
-def run_pelican(settings, path, theme, output_path, markup, delete):
-    """Run pelican with the given parameters"""
+    def get_generator_classes(self):
+        generators = [ArticlesGenerator, PagesGenerator, StaticGenerator]
+        if self.settings['PDF_GENERATOR']:
+            generators.append(PdfGenerator)
+        return generators
+
+    def get_writer(self):
+        return Writer(self.output_path)
 
-    params = init_params(settings, path, theme, output_path, markup, delete)
-    generators = [ArticlesGenerator, PagesGenerator, StaticGenerator]
-    if params[0]['PDF_GENERATOR']:  # param[0] is settings
-        generators.append(PdfGenerator)
-    run_generators(generators, *params)
 
 
 def main():
@@ -106,7 +114,18 @@ def main():
     # the variable with None.
     markup = [a.strip().lower() for a in args.markup.split(',')] if args.markup else None
 
-    run_pelican(args.settings, args.path, args.theme, args.output, markup, args.keep)
+    if args.settings is None:
+        settings = {}
+    settings = read_settings(args.settings)
+
+    cls = settings.get('PELICAN_CLASS')
+    if isinstance(cls, basestring):
+        module, cls_name = cls.rsplit('.', 1)
+        module = __import__(module)
+        cls = getattr(module, cls_name)
+
+    pelican = cls(settings, args.path, args.theme, args.output, markup, args.keep)
+    pelican.run()
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/pelican/settings.py b/pelican/settings.py
index 8f0dcdbd..0fef4fec 100644
--- a/pelican/settings.py
+++ b/pelican/settings.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ _DEFAULT_CONFIG = {'PATH': None,
                    'CLEAN_URLS': False, # use /blah/ instead /blah.html in urls
                    'RELATIVE_URLS': True,
                    'DEFAULT_LANG': 'en',
+                   'PELICAN_CLASS': 'pelican.Pelican',
                   }
 
 def read_settings(filename):