diff --git a/lib/pluginlib.php b/lib/pluginlib.php
index 52a42333778..0a0a4d8dc5e 100644
--- a/lib/pluginlib.php
+++ b/lib/pluginlib.php
@@ -544,6 +544,39 @@ class plugin_manager {
 }
 
 
+/**
+ * Factory class producing required subclasses of {@link plugininfo_base}
+ */
+class plugininfo_default_factory {
+
+    /**
+     * Makes a new instance of the plugininfo class
+     *
+     * @param string $type the plugin type, eg. 'mod'
+     * @param string $typerootdir full path to the location of all the plugins of this type
+     * @param string $name the plugin name, eg. 'workshop'
+     * @param string $namerootdir full path to the location of the plugin
+     * @param string $typeclass the name of class that holds the info about the plugin
+     * @return plugininfo_base the instance of $typeclass
+     */
+    public static function make($type, $typerootdir, $name, $namerootdir, $typeclass) {
+        $plugin              = new $typeclass();
+        $plugin->type        = $type;
+        $plugin->typerootdir = $typerootdir;
+        $plugin->name        = $name;
+        $plugin->rootdir     = $namerootdir;
+
+        $plugin->init_display_name();
+        $plugin->load_disk_version();
+        $plugin->load_db_version();
+        $plugin->load_required_main_version();
+        $plugin->init_is_standard();
+
+        return $plugin;
+    }
+}
+
+
 /**
  * Base class providing access to the information about a plugin
  *
@@ -579,10 +612,6 @@ abstract class plugininfo_base {
     /**
      * Gathers and returns the information about all plugins of the given type
      *
-     * Passing the parameter $typeclass allows us to reach the same effect as with the
-     * late binding in PHP 5.3. Once PHP 5.3 is required, we can refactor this to use
-     * {@example $plugin = new static();} instead of {@example $plugin = new $typeclass()}
-     *
      * @param string $type the name of the plugintype, eg. mod, auth or workshopform
      * @param string $typerootdir full path to the location of the plugin dir
      * @param string $typeclass the name of the actually called class
@@ -594,19 +623,8 @@ abstract class plugininfo_base {
         $plugins = get_plugin_list($type);
         $ondisk = array();
         foreach ($plugins as $pluginname => $pluginrootdir) {
-            $plugin                 = new $typeclass();
-            $plugin->type           = $type;
-            $plugin->typerootdir    = $typerootdir;
-            $plugin->name           = $pluginname;
-            $plugin->rootdir        = $pluginrootdir;
-
-            $plugin->init_display_name();
-            $plugin->load_disk_version();
-            $plugin->load_db_version();
-            $plugin->load_required_main_version();
-            $plugin->init_is_standard();
-
-            $ondisk[$pluginname] = $plugin;
+            $ondisk[$pluginname] = plugininfo_default_factory::make($type, $typerootdir,
+                $pluginname, $pluginrootdir, $typeclass);
         }
         return $ondisk;
     }
diff --git a/lib/simpletest/testpluginlib.php b/lib/simpletest/testpluginlib.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7c94917ab60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/simpletest/testpluginlib.php
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+<?php
+
+// This file is part of Moodle - http://moodle.org/
+//
+// Moodle is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// Moodle is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Moodle.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for the lib/pluginlib.php library
+ *
+ * @package     core
+ * @category    test
+ * @copyright   2012 David Mudrak <david@moodle.com>
+ * @license     http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+
+defined('MOODLE_INTERNAL') || die();
+
+if (empty($CFG->unittestprefix)) {
+    die('You must define $CFG->unittestprefix to run these unit tests.');
+}
+
+require_once($CFG->libdir.'/pluginlib.php');
+
+/**
+ * Modified {@link plugininfo_mod} suitable for testing purposes
+ */
+class testable_plugininfo_mod extends plugininfo_mod {
+
+    public function init_display_name() {
+        $this->displayname = ucfirst($this->name);
+    }
+
+    public function load_disk_version() {
+        $this->versiondisk = 2012030500;
+    }
+
+    protected function load_version_php() {
+        return (object)array(
+            'version' => 2012030500,
+            'requires' => 2012010100,
+            'component' => $this->type.'_'.$this->name);
+    }
+
+    public function load_db_version() {
+        $this->versiondb = 2012022900;
+    }
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * Modified {@link plugin_manager} suitable for testing purposes
+ */
+class testable_plugin_manager extends plugin_manager {
+
+    /**
+     * Factory method for this class
+     *
+     * @return plugin_manager the singleton instance
+     */
+    public static function instance() {
+        global $CFG;
+
+        if (is_null(self::$singletoninstance)) {
+            self::$singletoninstance = new self();
+        }
+        return self::$singletoninstance;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * A version of {@link plugin_manager::get_plugins()} that prepares some faked
+     * testable instances.
+     *
+     * @param bool $disablecache ignored in this class
+     * @return array
+     */
+    public function get_plugins($disablecache=false) {
+        global $CFG;
+
+        $this->pluginsinfo = array(
+            'mod' => array(
+                'foo' => plugininfo_default_factory::make('mod', $CFG->dirroot.'/mod', 'foo',
+                    $CFG->dirroot.'/mod/foo', 'testable_plugininfo_mod'),
+            )
+        );
+
+        return $this->pluginsinfo;
+    }
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * Test cases for the pluginlib API
+ *
+ * These are basic tests to document the basic API of the plugin manager.
+ */
+class plugin_manager_test extends UnitTestCase {
+
+    public function test_plugin_manager_instance() {
+        $pluginman = testable_plugin_manager::instance();
+        $this->assertTrue($pluginman instanceof testable_plugin_manager);
+    }
+
+    public function test_get_plugins() {
+        $pluginman = testable_plugin_manager::instance();
+        $plugins = $pluginman->get_plugins();
+        $this->assertTrue(isset($plugins['mod']['foo']));
+        $this->assertTrue($plugins['mod']['foo'] instanceof testable_plugininfo_mod);
+    }
+
+    public function test_get_status() {
+        $pluginman = testable_plugin_manager::instance();
+        $plugins = $pluginman->get_plugins();
+        $modfoo = $plugins['mod']['foo'];
+        $this->assertEqual($modfoo->get_status(), plugin_manager::PLUGIN_STATUS_UPGRADE);
+    }
+}