diff --git a/earwigbot/classes/__init__.py b/earwigbot/classes/__init__.py
index 3373679..96079e1 100644
--- a/earwigbot/classes/__init__.py
+++ b/earwigbot/classes/__init__.py
@@ -20,5 +20,4 @@
 # OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
 # SOFTWARE.
 
-from earwigbot.classes.base_command import *
 from earwigbot.classes.base_task import *
diff --git a/earwigbot/classes/base_command.py b/earwigbot/classes/base_command.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 10ccbc8..0000000
--- a/earwigbot/classes/base_command.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,75 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8  -*-
-#
-# Copyright (C) 2009-2012 by Ben Kurtovic <ben.kurtovic@verizon.net>
-# 
-# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
-# of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
-# in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
-# to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
-# copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is 
-# furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
-# 
-# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
-# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
-# 
-# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
-# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
-# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
-# AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
-# LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
-# OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
-# SOFTWARE.
-
-import logging
-
-__all__ = ["BaseCommand"]
-
-class BaseCommand(object):
-    """A base class for commands on IRC.
-
-    This docstring is reported to the user when they use !help <command>.
-    """
-    # This is the command's name, as reported to the user when they use !help:
-    name = None
-
-    # Hooks are "msg", "msg_private", "msg_public", and "join". "msg" is the
-    # default behavior; if you wish to override that, change the value in your
-    # command subclass:
-    hooks = ["msg"]
-
-    def __init__(self, connection):
-        """Constructor for new commands.
-
-        This is called once when the command is loaded (from
-        commands._load_command()). `connection` is a Connection object,
-        allowing us to do self.connection.say(), self.connection.send(), etc,
-        from within a method.
-        """
-        self.connection = connection
-        logger_name = ".".join(("earwigbot", "commands", self.name))
-        self.logger = logging.getLogger(logger_name)
-        self.logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
-
-    def check(self, data):
-        """Returns whether this command should be called in response to 'data'.
-
-        Given a Data() instance, return True if we should respond to this
-        activity, or False if we should ignore it or it doesn't apply to us.
-
-        Most commands return True if data.command == self.name, otherwise they
-        return False. This is the default behavior of check(); you need only
-        override it if you wish to change that.
-        """
-        if data.is_command and data.command == self.name:
-            return True
-        return False
-
-    def process(self, data):
-        """Main entry point for doing a command.
-
-        Handle an activity (usually a message) on IRC. At this point, thanks
-        to self.check() which is called automatically by the command handler,
-        we know this is something we should respond to, so (usually) something
-        like 'if data.command != "command_name": return' is unnecessary.
-        """
-        pass
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/__init__.py b/earwigbot/commands/__init__.py
index fda7072..8af0ce8 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/__init__.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/__init__.py
@@ -24,88 +24,140 @@
 EarwigBot's IRC Command Manager
 
 This package provides the IRC "commands" used by the bot's front-end component.
-In __init__, you can find some functions used to load and run these commands.
+This module contains the BaseCommand class (import with
+`from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand`) and an internal _CommandManager
+class. This can be accessed through the singleton `command_manager`.
 """
 
 import logging
 import os
 import sys
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
 from earwigbot.config import config
 
-__all__ = ["load", "get_all", "check"]
+__all__ = ["BaseCommand", "command_manager"]
 
-# Base directory when searching for commands:
-base_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
+class BaseCommand(object):
+    """A base class for commands on IRC.
 
-# Store commands in a dict, where the key is the command's name and the value
-# is an instance of the command's class:
-_commands = {}
-
-# Logger for this module:
-logger = logging.getLogger("earwigbot.tasks")
-
-def _load_command(connection, filename):
-    """Try to load a specific command from a module, identified by file name.
-
-    Given a Connection object and a filename, we'll first try to import it,
-    and if that works, make an instance of the 'Command' class inside (assuming
-    it is an instance of BaseCommand), add it to _commands, and report the
-    addition to the user. Any problems along the way will either be ignored or
-    reported.
-    """
-    global _commands
-
-    # Strip .py from the end of the filename and join with our package name:
-    name = ".".join(("commands", filename[:-3]))
-    try:
-         __import__(name)
-    except:
-        logger.exception("Couldn't load file {0}".format(filename))
-        return
-
-    command = sys.modules[name].Command(connection)
-    if not isinstance(command, BaseCommand):
-        return
-
-    _commands[command.name] = command
-    logger.debug("Added command {0}".format(command.name))
-
-def load(connection):
-    """Load all valid commands into the _commands global variable.
-
-    `connection` is a Connection object that is given to each command's
-    constructor.
+    This docstring is reported to the user when they use !help <command>.
     """
-    files = os.listdir(base_dir)
-    files.sort()
+    # This is the command's name, as reported to the user when they use !help:
+    name = None
+
+    # Hooks are "msg", "msg_private", "msg_public", and "join". "msg" is the
+    # default behavior; if you wish to override that, change the value in your
+    # command subclass:
+    hooks = ["msg"]
+
+    def __init__(self, connection):
+        """Constructor for new commands.
+
+        This is called once when the command is loaded (from
+        commands._load_command()). `connection` is a Connection object,
+        allowing us to do self.connection.say(), self.connection.send(), etc,
+        from within a method.
+        """
+        self.connection = connection
+        logger_name = ".".join(("earwigbot", "commands", self.name))
+        self.logger = logging.getLogger(logger_name)
+        self.logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+
+    def check(self, data):
+        """Returns whether this command should be called in response to 'data'.
+
+        Given a Data() instance, return True if we should respond to this
+        activity, or False if we should ignore it or it doesn't apply to us.
+
+        Most commands return True if data.command == self.name, otherwise they
+        return False. This is the default behavior of check(); you need only
+        override it if you wish to change that.
+        """
+        if data.is_command and data.command == self.name:
+            return True
+        return False
+
+    def process(self, data):
+        """Main entry point for doing a command.
+
+        Handle an activity (usually a message) on IRC. At this point, thanks
+        to self.check() which is called automatically by the command handler,
+        we know this is something we should respond to, so (usually) something
+        like 'if data.command != "command_name": return' is unnecessary.
+        """
+        pass
+
+
+class _CommandManager(object):
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.logger = logging.getLogger("earwigbot.tasks")
+        self._base_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
+        self._connection = None
+        self._commands = {}
+
+    def _load_command(self, filename):
+        """Load a specific command from a module, identified by filename.
+
+        Given a Connection object and a filename, we'll first try to import
+        it, and if that works, make an instance of the 'Command' class inside
+        (assuming it is an instance of BaseCommand), add it to self._commands,
+        and log the addition. Any problems along the way will either be
+        ignored or logged.
+        """
+        # Strip .py from the filename's end and join with our package name:
+        name = ".".join(("commands", filename[:-3]))
+        try:
+             __import__(name)
+        except:
+            self.logger.exception("Couldn't load file {0}".format(filename))
+            return
 
-    for filename in files:
-        if filename.startswith("_") or not filename.endswith(".py"):
-            continue
         try:
-            _load_command(connection, filename)
+            command = sys.modules[name].Command(self._connection)
         except AttributeError:
-            pass  # The file is doesn't contain a command, so just move on
-
-    msg = "Found {0} commands: {1}"
-    logger.info(msg.format(len(_commands), ", ".join(_commands.keys())))
-
-def get_all():
-    """Return our dict of all loaded commands."""
-    return _commands
-
-def check(hook, data):
-    """Given an event on IRC, check if there's anything we can respond to."""
-    # Parse command arguments into data.command and data.args:
-    data.parse_args()
-
-    for command in _commands.values():
-        if hook in command.hooks:
-            if command.check(data):
-                try:
-                    command.process(data)
-                except:
-                    logger.exception("Error executing command '{0}'".format(data.command))
-                break
+            return  # No command in this module
+        if not isinstance(command, BaseCommand):
+            return
+
+        self._commands[command.name] = command
+        self.logger.debug("Added command {0}".format(command.name))
+
+    def load(self, connection):
+        """Load all valid commands into self._commands.
+
+        `connection` is a Connection object that is given to each command's
+        constructor.
+        """
+        self._connection = connection
+
+        files = os.listdir(self._base_dir)
+        files.sort()
+        for filename in files:
+            if filename.startswith("_") or not filename.endswith(".py"):
+                continue
+            self._load_command(filename)
+
+        msg = "Found {0} commands: {1}"
+        commands = ", ".join(self._commands.keys())
+        self.logger.info(msg.format(len(self._commands), commands))
+
+    def get_all(self):
+        """Return our dict of all loaded commands."""
+        return self._commands
+
+    def check(self, hook, data):
+        """Given an IRC event, check if there's anything we can respond to."""
+        # Parse command arguments into data.command and data.args:
+        data.parse_args()
+        for command in self._commands.values():
+            if hook in command.hooks:
+                if command.check(data):
+                    try:
+                        command.process(data)
+                    except Exception:
+                        e = "Error executing command '{0}'"
+                        self.logger.exception(e.format(data.command))
+                    break
+
+
+command_manager = _CommandManager()
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/afc_report.py b/earwigbot/commands/afc_report.py
index fe3cd8d..3c3bc24 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/afc_report.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/afc_report.py
@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@
 
 import re
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
 from earwigbot import tasks
 from earwigbot import wiki
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     """Get information about an AFC submission by name."""
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/afc_status.py b/earwigbot/commands/afc_status.py
index ab32259..a475caf 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/afc_status.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/afc_status.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 import re
 
 from earwigbot import wiki
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 from earwigbot.config import config
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/calc.py b/earwigbot/commands/calc.py
index 4b3d25b..f6d3177 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/calc.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/calc.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 import re
 import urllib
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     """A somewhat advanced calculator: see http://futureboy.us/fsp/frink.fsp
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/chanops.py b/earwigbot/commands/chanops.py
index 0a36966..dd59353 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/chanops.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/chanops.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 # OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
 # SOFTWARE.
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 from earwigbot.config import config
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/crypt.py b/earwigbot/commands/crypt.py
index c0fb432..e71e139 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/crypt.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/crypt.py
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@
 
 import hashlib
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
 from earwigbot import blowfish
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     """Provides hash functions with !hash (!hash list for supported algorithms)
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/ctcp.py b/earwigbot/commands/ctcp.py
index 5c0a352..80b56e2 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/ctcp.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/ctcp.py
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@
 import platform
 import time
 
-import earwigbot
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
+from earwigbot import __version__
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 from earwigbot.config import config
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
@@ -64,6 +64,6 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
         elif command == "VERSION":
             default = "EarwigBot - $1 - Python/$2 https://github.com/earwig/earwigbot"
             vers = config.irc.get("version", default)
-            vers = vers.replace("$1", earwigbot.__version__)
+            vers = vers.replace("$1", __version__)
             vers = vers.replace("$2", platform.python_version())
             self.connection.notice(target, "\x01VERSION {0}\x01".format(vers))
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/editcount.py b/earwigbot/commands/editcount.py
index 7417ff9..9c58726 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/editcount.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/editcount.py
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@
 
 from urllib import quote_plus
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
 from earwigbot import wiki
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     """Return a user's edit count."""
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/git.py b/earwigbot/commands/git.py
index e465e93..dfd9aba 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/git.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/git.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import shlex
 import subprocess
 import re
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 from earwigbot.config import config
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/help.py b/earwigbot/commands/help.py
index f8129a0..5a6f9dd 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/help.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/help.py
@@ -22,8 +22,7 @@
 
 import re
 
-from earwigbot import commands
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand, command_manager
 from earwigbot.irc import Data
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
@@ -31,7 +30,7 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
     name = "help"
 
     def process(self, data):
-        self.cmnds = commands.get_all()
+        self.cmnds = command_manager.get_all()
         if not data.args:
             self.do_main_help(data)
         else:
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/link.py b/earwigbot/commands/link.py
index 24a4b7a..675096e 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/link.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/link.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 import re
 from urllib import quote
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     """Convert a Wikipedia page name into a URL."""
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/praise.py b/earwigbot/commands/praise.py
index e82247c..c9e3950 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/praise.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/praise.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 import random
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     """Praise people!"""
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/registration.py b/earwigbot/commands/registration.py
index b21a6ac..55b762f 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/registration.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/registration.py
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@
 
 import time
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
 from earwigbot import wiki
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     """Return when a user registered."""
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/remind.py b/earwigbot/commands/remind.py
index 73a4a1e..115cb4c 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/remind.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/remind.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 import threading
 import time
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     """Set a message to be repeated to you in a certain amount of time."""
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/replag.py b/earwigbot/commands/replag.py
index 8347dc7..32b664d 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/replag.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/replag.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ from os.path import expanduser
 
 import oursql
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     """Return the replag for a specific database on the Toolserver."""
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/restart.py b/earwigbot/commands/restart.py
index 0f47f49..527fc82 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/restart.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/restart.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 # OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
 # SOFTWARE.
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 from earwigbot.config import config
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/rights.py b/earwigbot/commands/rights.py
index 31c56db..1a9dd99 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/rights.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/rights.py
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@
 # OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
 # SOFTWARE.
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
 from earwigbot import wiki
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     """Retrieve a list of rights for a given username."""
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/test.py b/earwigbot/commands/test.py
index 0c94fa7..edc4567 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/test.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/test.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 import random
 
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     """Test the bot!"""
diff --git a/earwigbot/commands/threads.py b/earwigbot/commands/threads.py
index a7c5a1b..5b5ce0f 100644
--- a/earwigbot/commands/threads.py
+++ b/earwigbot/commands/threads.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import threading
 import re
 
 from earwigbot import tasks
-from earwigbot.classes import BaseCommand
+from earwigbot.commands import BaseCommand
 from earwigbot.config import config
 from earwigbot.irc import KwargParseException
 
diff --git a/earwigbot/irc/frontend.py b/earwigbot/irc/frontend.py
index 027c73f..2b7e7d1 100644
--- a/earwigbot/irc/frontend.py
+++ b/earwigbot/irc/frontend.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 import logging
 import re
 
-from earwigbot import  commands
+from earwigbot.commands import command_manager
 from earwigbot.irc import IRCConnection, Data, BrokenSocketException
 from earwigbot.config import config
 
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ class Frontend(IRCConnection):
         base = super(Frontend, self)
         base.__init__(cf["host"], cf["port"], cf["nick"], cf["ident"],
                       cf["realname"], self.logger)
-        commands.load(self)
+        command_manager.load(self)
         self._connect()
 
     def _process_message(self, line):
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ class Frontend(IRCConnection):
             data.nick, data.ident, data.host = self.sender_regex.findall(line[0])[0]
             data.chan = line[2]
             # Check for 'join' hooks in our commands:
-            commands.check("join", data)
+            command_manager.check("join", data)
 
         elif line[1] == "PRIVMSG":
             data.nick, data.ident, data.host = self.sender_regex.findall(line[0])[0]
@@ -70,13 +70,13 @@ class Frontend(IRCConnection):
                 # This is a privmsg to us, so set 'chan' as the nick of the
                 # sender, then check for private-only command hooks:
                 data.chan = data.nick
-                commands.check("msg_private", data)
+                command_manager.check("msg_private", data)
             else:
                 # Check for public-only command hooks:
-                commands.check("msg_public", data)
+                command_manager.check("msg_public", data)
 
             # Check for command hooks that apply to all messages:
-            commands.check("msg", data)
+            command_manager.check("msg", data)
 
         # If we are pinged, pong back:
         elif line[0] == "PING":