diff --git a/lib/NavLink.js b/lib/NavLink.js
index 5dac755..160f66a 100644
--- a/lib/NavLink.js
+++ b/lib/NavLink.js
@@ -6,130 +6,28 @@
 'use strict';
 
 var React = require('react');
-var navigateAction = require('./navigateAction');
-var debug = require('debug')('NavLink');
+var navLinkUtils = require('./navLinkUtils');
 var objectAssign = require('object-assign');
-var handleRoute = require('./handleRoute');
-var Immutable = require('immutable');
-
-function isLeftClickEvent (e) {
-    return e.button === 0;
-}
-
-function isModifiedEvent (e) {
-    return !!(e.metaKey || e.altKey || e.ctrlKey || e.shiftKey);
-}
 
 var NavLink = React.createClass({
     displayName: 'NavLink',
-    contextTypes: {
-        executeAction: React.PropTypes.func
-    },
-    propTypes: {
-        currentRoute: React.PropTypes.object,
-        currentNavigate: React.PropTypes.object,
-        href: React.PropTypes.string,
-        isActive: React.PropTypes.func,
-        makePath: React.PropTypes.func,
-        stopPropagation: React.PropTypes.bool,
-        routeName: React.PropTypes.string,
-        navParams: React.PropTypes.object,
-        followLink: React.PropTypes.bool,
-        preserveScrollPosition: React.PropTypes.bool,
-        replaceState: React.PropTypes.bool
-    },
-    _getHrefFromProps: function (props) {
-        var href = props.href;
-        var routeName = props.routeName;
-        if (!href && routeName) {
-            href = this.props.makePath(routeName, props.navParams);
-        }
-        if (!href) {
-            throw new Error('NavLink created without href or unresolvable routeName \'' + routeName + '\'');
-        }
-        return href;
-    },
-    dispatchNavAction: function (e) {
-        var navType = this.props.replaceState ? 'replacestate' : 'click';
-        debug('dispatchNavAction: action=NAVIGATE', this.props.href, this.props.followLink, this.props.navParams);
-
-        if (this.props.followLink) {
-            return;
-        }
-
-        if (isModifiedEvent(e) || !isLeftClickEvent(e)) {
-            // this is a click with a modifier or not a left-click
-            // let browser handle it natively
-            return;
-        }
-
-        var href = this._getHrefFromProps(this.props);
-
-        if (href[0] === '#') {
-            // this is a hash link url for page's internal links.
-            // Do not trigger navigate action. Let browser handle it natively.
-            return;
-        }
-
-        if (href[0] !== '/') {
-            // this is not a relative url. check for external urls.
-            var location = window.location;
-            var origin = location.origin || (location.protocol + '//' + location.host);
-
-            if (href.indexOf(origin) !== 0) {
-                // this is an external url, do not trigger navigate action.
-                // let browser handle it natively.
-                return;
-            }
-
-            href = href.substring(origin.length) || '/';
-        }
-
-        e.preventDefault();
-        if (this.props.stopPropagation) {
-            e.stopPropagation();
-        }
-
-        var context = this.props.context || this.context;
-        var onBeforeUnloadText = typeof window.onbeforeunload === 'function' ? window.onbeforeunload() : '';
-        var confirmResult = onBeforeUnloadText ? window.confirm(onBeforeUnloadText) : true;
-
-        if (confirmResult) {
-            // Removes the window.onbeforeunload method so that the next page will not be affected
-            window.onbeforeunload = null;
-
-            context.executeAction(navigateAction, {
-                type: navType,
-                url: href,
-                preserveScrollPosition: this.props.preserveScrollPosition,
-                params: this.props.navParams
-            });
-        }
-    },
-    render: function() {
-        var href = this._getHrefFromProps(this.props);
-        var isActive = this.props.isActive(href);
-
-        var className = this.props.className;
-        var style = this.props.style;
-        if (isActive) {
-            className = className ? (className + ' ') : '';
-            className += this.props.activeClass || 'active';
-            style = objectAssign({}, style, this.props.activeStyle);
-        }
-
+    contextTypes: navLinkUtils.contextTypes,
+    propTypes: navLinkUtils.propTypes,
+    render: function () {
+        var href = navLinkUtils.getHrefFromProps.apply(this);
+        var toggledStyles = navLinkUtils.getToggledStyles.apply(this, [href]);
         return React.createElement(
             'a',
             objectAssign({}, {
-                onClick: this.dispatchNavAction
+                onClick: navLinkUtils.dispatchNavAction.bind(this)
             }, this.props, {
                 href: href,
-                className: className,
-                style: style
+                className: toggledStyles.className,
+                style: toggledStyles.style
             }),
             this.props.children
         );
     }
 });
 
-module.exports = handleRoute(NavLink);
+module.exports = NavLink;
diff --git a/lib/navLinkUtils.js b/lib/navLinkUtils.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..31a625d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/navLinkUtils.js
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2015, Yahoo! Inc.
+ * Copyrights licensed under the New BSD License. See the accompanying LICENSE file for terms.
+ */
+/*global window */
+'use strict';
+var React = require('react');
+var RouteStore = require('./RouteStore');
+var debug = require('debug')('NavLink');
+var navigateAction = require('./navigateAction');
+var objectAssign = require('object-assign');
+
+function isLeftClickEvent (e) {
+    return e.button === 0;
+}
+
+function isModifiedEvent (e) {
+    return !!(e.metaKey || e.altKey || e.ctrlKey || e.shiftKey);
+}
+
+function getHrefFromProps () {
+    var href = this.props.href;
+    var routeName = this.props.routeName;
+    var routeStore = this.context.getStore(RouteStore);
+    if (!href && routeName) {
+        href = routeStore.makePath(routeName, this.props.navParams);
+    }
+    if (!href) {
+        throw new Error('NavLink created without href or unresolvable routeName \'' + routeName + '\'');
+    }
+    return href;
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+    contextTypes: {
+        executeAction: React.PropTypes.func,
+        getStore: React.PropTypes.func
+    },
+    propTypes: {
+        currentRoute: React.PropTypes.object,
+        currentNavigate: React.PropTypes.object,
+        href: React.PropTypes.string,
+        stopPropagation: React.PropTypes.bool,
+        routeName: React.PropTypes.string,
+        navParams: React.PropTypes.object,
+        followLink: React.PropTypes.bool,
+        preserveScrollPosition: React.PropTypes.bool,
+        replaceState: React.PropTypes.bool
+    },
+    dispatchNavAction: function (e) {
+        var navType = this.props.replaceState ? 'replacestate' : 'click';
+        debug('dispatchNavAction: action=NAVIGATE', this.props.href, this.props.followLink, this.props.navParams);
+
+        if (this.props.followLink) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        if (isModifiedEvent(e) || !isLeftClickEvent(e)) {
+            // this is a click with a modifier or not a left-click
+            // let browser handle it natively
+            return;
+        }
+
+        var href = getHrefFromProps.apply(this);
+
+        if (href[0] === '#') {
+            // this is a hash link url for page's internal links.
+            // Do not trigger navigate action. Let browser handle it natively.
+            return;
+        }
+
+        if (href[0] !== '/') {
+            // this is not a relative url. check for external urls.
+            var location = window.location;
+            var origin = location.origin || (location.protocol + '//' + location.host);
+
+            if (href.indexOf(origin) !== 0) {
+                // this is an external url, do not trigger navigate action.
+                // let browser handle it natively.
+                return;
+            }
+
+            href = href.substring(origin.length) || '/';
+        }
+
+        e.preventDefault();
+        if (this.props.stopPropagation) {
+            e.stopPropagation();
+        }
+
+        var context = this.props.context || this.context;
+        var onBeforeUnloadText = typeof window.onbeforeunload === 'function' ? window.onbeforeunload() : '';
+        var confirmResult = onBeforeUnloadText ? window.confirm(onBeforeUnloadText) : true;
+
+        if (confirmResult) {
+            // Removes the window.onbeforeunload method so that the next page will not be affected
+            window.onbeforeunload = null;
+
+            context.executeAction(navigateAction, {
+                type: navType,
+                url: href,
+                preserveScrollPosition: this.props.preserveScrollPosition,
+                params: this.props.navParams
+            });
+        }
+    },
+    getHrefFromProps: getHrefFromProps,
+    getToggledStyles: function (href) {
+        var routeStore = this.context.getStore(RouteStore);
+        var isActive = routeStore.isActive(href);
+        var className = this.props.className;
+        var style = this.props.style;
+        if (isActive) {
+            className = className ? (className + ' ') : '';
+            className += this.props.activeClass || 'active';
+            style = objectAssign({}, style, this.props.activeStyle);
+        }
+        return {
+            className: className,
+            style: style
+        };
+    }
+};
diff --git a/tests/unit/lib/NavLink-test.js b/tests/unit/lib/NavLink-test.js
index 4f6113d..b5ce3ba 100644
--- a/tests/unit/lib/NavLink-test.js
+++ b/tests/unit/lib/NavLink-test.js
@@ -397,19 +397,4 @@ describe('NavLink', function () {
             }, 50);
         });
     });
-
-    describe('componentWillUnmount', function () {
-        it('should update active state', function () {
-            var div = document.createElement('div');
-            React.render(
-                <MockAppComponent context={mockContext}>
-                    <NavLink href='/foo' />
-                </MockAppComponent>
-            , div);
-            var routeStore = mockContext.getStore('RouteStore');
-            expect(routeStore.listeners('change').length).to.equal(2);
-            React.unmountComponentAtNode(div);
-            expect(routeStore.listeners('change').length).to.equal(0);
-        });
-    });
 });