diff --git a/phpBB/includes/functions.php b/phpBB/includes/functions.php
index 95f2cf8d26..ad64471388 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/functions.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/functions.php
@@ -4987,3 +4987,16 @@ function phpbb_pcre_utf8_support()
 	}
 	return $utf8_pcre_properties;
 }
+
+/**
+* Casts a numeric string $input to an appropriate numeric type (i.e. integer or float)
+*
+* @param string $input		A numeric string.
+*
+* @return int|float			Integer $input if $input fits integer,
+*							float $input otherwise.
+*/
+function phpbb_to_numeric($input)
+{
+	return ($input > PHP_INT_MAX) ? (float) $input : (int) $input;
+}
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/php/ini.php b/phpBB/includes/php/ini.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..17e8c54a57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/phpBB/includes/php/ini.php
@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+<?php
+/**
+*
+* @package phpBB
+* @copyright (c) 2011 phpBB Group
+* @license http://opensource.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.php GNU General Public License v2
+*
+*/
+
+/**
+* @ignore
+*/
+if (!defined('IN_PHPBB'))
+{
+	exit;
+}
+
+/**
+* Wrapper class for ini_get function.
+*
+* Provides easier handling of the different interpretations of ini values.
+*
+* @package phpBB
+*/
+class phpbb_php_ini
+{
+	/**
+	* Simple wrapper for ini_get()
+	* See http://php.net/manual/en/function.ini-get.php
+	*
+	* @param string $varname	The configuration option name.
+	* @return bool|string		False if configuration option does not exist,
+	*							the configuration option value (string) otherwise.
+	*/
+	public function get($varname)
+	{
+		return ini_get($varname);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	* Gets the configuration option value as a trimmed string.
+	*
+	* @param string $varname	The configuration option name.
+	* @return bool|string		False if configuration option does not exist,
+	*							the configuration option value (string) otherwise.
+	*/
+	public function get_string($varname)
+	{
+		$value = $this->get($varname);
+
+		if ($value === false)
+		{
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		return trim($value);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	* Gets configuration option value as a boolean.
+	* Interprets the string value 'off' as false.
+	*
+	* @param string $varname	The configuration option name.
+	* @return bool				False if configuration option does not exist.
+	*							False if configuration option is disabled.
+	*							True otherwise.
+	*/
+	public function get_bool($varname)
+	{
+		$value = $this->get_string($varname);
+
+		if (empty($value) || strtolower($value) == 'off')
+		{
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	* Gets configuration option value as an integer.
+	*
+	* @param string $varname	The configuration option name.
+	* @return bool|int			False if configuration option does not exist,
+	*							false if configuration option value is not numeric,
+	*							the configuration option value (integer) otherwise.
+	*/
+	public function get_int($varname)
+	{
+		$value = $this->get_string($varname);
+
+		if (!is_numeric($value))
+		{
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		return (int) $value;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	* Gets configuration option value as a float.
+	*
+	* @param string $varname	The configuration option name.
+	* @return bool|float		False if configuration option does not exist,
+	*							false if configuration option value is not numeric,
+	*							the configuration option value (float) otherwise.
+	*/
+	public function get_float($varname)
+	{
+		$value = $this->get_string($varname);
+
+		if (!is_numeric($value))
+		{
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		return (float) $value;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	* Gets configuration option value in bytes.
+	* Converts strings like '128M' to bytes (integer or float).
+	*
+	* @param string $varname	The configuration option name.
+	* @return bool|int|float	False if configuration option does not exist,
+	*							false if configuration option value is not well-formed,
+	*							the configuration option value otherwise.
+	*/
+	public function get_bytes($varname)
+	{
+		$value = $this->get_string($varname);
+
+		if ($value === false)
+		{
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		if (is_numeric($value))
+		{
+			// Already in bytes.
+			return phpbb_to_numeric($value);
+		}
+		else if (strlen($value) < 2)
+		{
+			// Single character.
+			return false;
+		}
+		else if (strlen($value) < 3 && $value[0] === '-')
+		{
+			// Two characters but the first one is a minus.
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		$value_lower = strtolower($value);
+		$value_numeric = phpbb_to_numeric($value);
+
+		switch ($value_lower[strlen($value_lower) - 1])
+		{
+			case 'g':
+				$value_numeric *= 1024;
+			case 'm':
+				$value_numeric *= 1024;
+			case 'k':
+				$value_numeric *= 1024;
+			break;
+
+			default:
+				// It's not already in bytes (and thus numeric)
+				// and does not carry a unit.
+				return false;
+		}
+
+		return $value_numeric;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/tests/wrapper/phpbb_php_ini_fake.php b/tests/wrapper/phpbb_php_ini_fake.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..49bc5936e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/wrapper/phpbb_php_ini_fake.php
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+<?php
+/**
+*
+* @package testing
+* @copyright (c) 2011 phpBB Group
+* @license http://opensource.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.php GNU General Public License v2
+*
+*/
+
+class phpbb_php_ini_fake extends phpbb_php_ini
+{
+	function get($varname)
+	{
+		return $varname;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/tests/wrapper/phpbb_php_ini_test.php b/tests/wrapper/phpbb_php_ini_test.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8e08d5c204
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/wrapper/phpbb_php_ini_test.php
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+<?php
+/**
+*
+* @package testing
+* @copyright (c) 2011 phpBB Group
+* @license http://opensource.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.php GNU General Public License v2
+*
+*/
+
+require_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/phpbb_php_ini_fake.php';
+require_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/../../phpBB/includes/functions.php';
+
+class phpbb_wrapper_phpbb_php_ini_test extends phpbb_test_case
+{
+	protected $php_ini;
+
+	public function setUp()
+	{
+		$this->php_ini = new phpbb_php_ini_fake;
+	}
+
+	public function test_get_string()
+	{
+		$this->assertSame(false, $this->php_ini->get_string(false));
+		$this->assertSame('phpbb', $this->php_ini->get_string(' phpbb '));
+	}
+
+	public function test_get_bool()
+	{
+		$this->assertSame(true, $this->php_ini->get_bool('ON'));
+		$this->assertSame(true, $this->php_ini->get_bool('on'));
+		$this->assertSame(true, $this->php_ini->get_bool('1'));
+
+		$this->assertSame(false, $this->php_ini->get_bool('OFF'));
+		$this->assertSame(false, $this->php_ini->get_bool('off'));
+		$this->assertSame(false, $this->php_ini->get_bool('0'));
+		$this->assertSame(false, $this->php_ini->get_bool(''));
+	}
+
+	public function test_get_int()
+	{
+		$this->assertSame(1234, $this->php_ini->get_int('1234'));
+		$this->assertSame(-12345, $this->php_ini->get_int('-12345'));
+		$this->assertSame(false, $this->php_ini->get_int('phpBB'));
+	}
+
+	public function test_get_float()
+	{
+		$this->assertSame(1234.0, $this->php_ini->get_float('1234'));
+		$this->assertSame(-12345.0, $this->php_ini->get_float('-12345'));
+		$this->assertSame(false, $this->php_ini->get_float('phpBB'));
+	}
+
+	public function test_get_bytes_invalid()
+	{
+		$this->assertSame(false, $this->php_ini->get_bytes(false));
+		$this->assertSame(false, $this->php_ini->get_bytes('phpBB'));
+		$this->assertSame(false, $this->php_ini->get_bytes('k'));
+		$this->assertSame(false, $this->php_ini->get_bytes('-k'));
+		$this->assertSame(false, $this->php_ini->get_bytes('M'));
+		$this->assertSame(false, $this->php_ini->get_bytes('-M'));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	* @dataProvider get_bytes_data
+	*/
+	public function test_get_bytes($expected, $value)
+	{
+		$actual = $this->php_ini->get_bytes($value);
+
+		$this->assertTrue(is_float($actual) || is_int($actual));
+		$this->assertEquals($expected, $actual);
+	}
+
+	static public function get_bytes_data()
+	{
+		return array(
+			array(32 * pow(2, 20),		'32m'),
+			array(- 32 * pow(2, 20),	'-32m'),
+			array(8 * pow(2, 30),		'8G'),
+			array(- 8 * pow(2, 30),		'-8G'),
+			array(1234,					'1234'),
+			array(-12345,				'-12345'),
+		);
+	}
+}