diff --git a/app/coffeescripts/jquery/mediaComment.coffee b/app/coffeescripts/jquery/mediaComment.coffee
index a445361115a0..52ba8f5905cb 100644
--- a/app/coffeescripts/jquery/mediaComment.coffee
+++ b/app/coffeescripts/jquery/mediaComment.coffee
@@ -9,6 +9,42 @@ define [
   'str/htmlEscape'
 ], (I18n, _, pubsub, mejs, $, kalturaAnalytics, htmlEscape) ->
 
+  ##
+  # a module for some of the transformation functions pulled out of the middle
+  # of this jQuery plugin to keep their dependencies light
+  #
+  # @exports
+  MediaCommentUtils = {
+    ##
+    # given the type and source/track tags, build
+    # an html5 media element to replace our media comment when interacted
+    # with
+    #
+    # @private
+    #
+    # @param {string} tagType should be "audio" or "video" generally, this is
+    #   used for the name of the tag but also to decide whether to include
+    #   width and height
+    #
+    # @param {HTML string} st_tags the html for the source and track tags that we
+    #   might want to include inside the media element
+    #
+    # @param {int} width the desired width of the element, only applicable for
+    #   video tags
+    #
+    # @param {int} height the desired height of the element, only applicable for
+    #   video tags
+    #
+    # @returns {jQuery Object} a new dom element (not yet attached anywhere)
+    #   that is the media element
+    getElement: (tagType, st_tags, width, height) ->
+      dimensions = ""
+      if tagType is 'video'
+        dimensions = " width='#{width}' height='#{height}'"
+      html = "<#{tagType} #{dimensions} preload='none' controls>#{st_tags}</#{tagType}>"
+      $(html)
+  }
+
   VIDEO_WIDTH = 550
   VIDEO_HEIGHT = 448
   $.extend mejs.MediaElementDefaults,
@@ -61,14 +97,10 @@ define [
   createMediaTag = ({sourcesAndTracks, mediaType, height, width, mediaPlayerOptions}) ->
     tagType = if mediaType is 'video' then 'video' else 'audio'
     st_tags = sourcesAndTracks.sources.concat(sourcesAndTracks.tracks).join('')
-
-    getElement = (tagType) ->
-      html = "<#{tagType} #{if mediaType is 'video' then "width='#{width}' height='#{height}'" else ''} controls>#{st_tags}</#{tagType}>"
-      $(html)
-
     willPlayAudioInFlash = ->
       opts = $.extend({mode: 'auto'}, mejs.MediaElementDefaults, mejs.MepDefaults,mediaPlayerOptions)
-      playback = mejs.HtmlMediaElementShim.determinePlayback(getElement('audio')[0], opts, mejs.MediaFeatures.supportsMediaTag, !!'isMediaTag', null)
+      element = MediaCommentUtils.getElement('audio', st_tags)
+      playback = mejs.HtmlMediaElementShim.determinePlayback(element[0], opts, mejs.MediaFeatures.supportsMediaTag, !!'isMediaTag', null)
       return playback.method != 'native'
 
     # We only need to do this if we try to play audio in a flash player.
@@ -81,7 +113,7 @@ define [
       mediaPlayerOptions.isVideo = false
       mediaPlayerOptions.videoHeight = height = 30
 
-    getElement(tagType)
+    MediaCommentUtils.getElement(tagType, st_tags, width, height)
 
   mediaCommentActions =
     create: (mediaType, callback, onClose, defaultTitle) ->
@@ -173,3 +205,5 @@ define [
     return console.log('Kaltura has not been enabled for this account') unless INST.kalturaSettings
     mediaCommentActions[command].apply(this, restArgs)
     this
+
+  MediaCommentUtils
diff --git a/spec/coffeescripts/jquery/mediaCommentSpec.coffee b/spec/coffeescripts/jquery/mediaCommentSpec.coffee
index 649d39046cd4..8e69a849f410 100644
--- a/spec/coffeescripts/jquery/mediaCommentSpec.coffee
+++ b/spec/coffeescripts/jquery/mediaCommentSpec.coffee
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 define [
   'jquery'
   'compiled/jquery/mediaComment'
-], ($)->
+], ($, MediaUtils)->
 
   module 'mediaComment',
     setup: ->
@@ -54,3 +54,27 @@ define [
     equal @$holder.find('source[type=mp4]').attr('src'),"http://some_mp4_url.com", "Video contains the mp4 source"
 
 
+  module "MediaCommentUtils functions",
+    setup: ->
+    teardown: ->
+
+  test "getElement includes width and height for video elements", ->
+    $media = MediaUtils.getElement("video", "", 100, 200)
+    equal($media.attr("width"), 100)
+    equal($media.attr("height"), 200)
+
+  test "getElement doesnt care about width and height for audio elements", ->
+    $media = MediaUtils.getElement("audio", "", 100, 200)
+    equal($media.attr("width"), null)
+    equal($media.attr("height"), null)
+
+  test "getElement adds preload='none' to both types", ->
+    $video = MediaUtils.getElement("video", "", 100, 200)
+    $audio = MediaUtils.getElement("audio", "", 100, 200)
+    equal($video.attr("preload"), "none")
+    equal($audio.attr("preload"), "none")
+
+  test "getElement puts source tags inside the element", ->
+    st_tag = "<source src='something'></source>"
+    $audio = MediaUtils.getElement("audio", st_tag)
+    equal($audio.html(), "<source src=\"something\">")