diff --git a/lib/tablelib.php b/lib/tablelib.php
index 8e3296d217e..7be66836066 100644
--- a/lib/tablelib.php
+++ b/lib/tablelib.php
@@ -983,6 +983,18 @@ class flexible_table {
      * @todo MDL-43902 , remove r0 and r1 from tr classes.
      */
     function print_row($row, $classname = '') {
+        echo $this->get_row_html($row, $classname);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Generate html code for the passed row.
+     *
+     * @param array $row Row data.
+     * @param string $classname classes to add.
+     *
+     * @return string $html html code for the row passed.
+     */
+    public function get_row_html($row, $classname = '') {
         static $suppress_lastrow = NULL;
         $oddeven = $this->currentrow % 2;
         $rowclasses = array('r' . $oddeven);
@@ -992,13 +1004,14 @@ class flexible_table {
         }
 
         $rowid = $this->uniqueid . '_r' . $this->currentrow;
+        $html = '';
 
-        echo html_writer::start_tag('tr', array('class' => implode(' ', $rowclasses), 'id' => $rowid));
+        $html .= html_writer::start_tag('tr', array('class' => implode(' ', $rowclasses), 'id' => $rowid));
 
         // If we have a separator, print it
         if ($row === NULL) {
             $colcount = count($this->columns);
-            echo html_writer::tag('td', html_writer::tag('div', '',
+            $html .= html_writer::tag('td', html_writer::tag('div', '',
                     array('class' => 'tabledivider')), array('colspan' => $colcount));
 
         } else {
@@ -1016,20 +1029,21 @@ class flexible_table {
                     $content = ' ';
                 }
 
-                echo html_writer::tag('td', $content, array(
+                $html .= html_writer::tag('td', $content, array(
                         'class' => 'cell c' . $index . $this->column_class[$column],
                         'id' => $rowid . '_c' . $index,
                         'style' => $this->make_styles_string($this->column_style[$column])));
             }
         }
 
-        echo html_writer::end_tag('tr');
+        $html .= html_writer::end_tag('tr');
 
         $suppress_enabled = array_sum($this->column_suppress);
         if ($suppress_enabled) {
             $suppress_lastrow = $row;
         }
         $this->currentrow++;
+        return $html;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/lib/tests/tablelib_test.php b/lib/tests/tablelib_test.php
index 46a317eb193..033b3d6a809 100644
--- a/lib/tests/tablelib_test.php
+++ b/lib/tests/tablelib_test.php
@@ -323,4 +323,18 @@ class core_tablelib_testcase extends basic_testcase {
             10
         );
     }
+
+    public function test_get_row_html() {
+        $data = $this->generate_data(1, 5);
+        $columns = $this->generate_columns(5);
+        $headers = $this->generate_headers(5);
+        $data = array_keys(array_flip($data[0]));
+
+        $table = new flexible_table('tablelib_test');
+        $table->define_columns($columns);
+        $table->define_headers($headers);
+        $table->define_baseurl('/invalid.php');
+        $row = $table->get_row_html($data);
+        $this->assertRegExp('/row 0 col 0/', $row);
+    }
 }