diff --git a/edithelp.pl b/edithelp.pl
index 0ce65f9fca..d4cdd5c91d 100755
--- a/edithelp.pl
+++ b/edithelp.pl
@@ -22,7 +22,13 @@
 use C4::Auth;
 use CGI;
 
-my $input = new CGI;
+use vars qw($debug);
+
+BEGIN {
+	$debug = $ENV{DEBUG} || 0;
+}
+
+our $input = new CGI;
 
 my $type    = $input->param('type');
 my $referer = $input->param('referer');
@@ -52,77 +58,64 @@
     }
 );
 
+sub _get_filepath ($;$) {
+    my $referer = shift;
+    $referer =~ /.*koha\/(.+)\.pl.*/;
+    my $from   = "help/$1.tmpl";
+    my $htdocs = C4::Context->config('intrahtdocs');
+	my ($theme, $lang);
+	# This split behavior was part of the old script.  I'm not sure why.  -atz
+	if (@_) {
+		($theme, $lang) = themelanguage( $htdocs, $from, "intranet", $input );
+	} else {
+		$theme = C4::Context->preference('template');
+   		$lang  = C4::Context->preference('language') || 'en';
+	}
+	$debug and print STDERR "help filepath: $htdocs/$theme/$lang/modules/$from";
+	return "$htdocs/$theme/$lang/modules/$from";
+}
+
 if ( $type eq 'addnew' ) {
     $type = 'create';
 }
 elsif ( $type eq 'create' || $type eq 'save' ) {
-    $referer =~ /.*koha\/(.*)\.pl.*/;
-    my $from   = "help/$1.tmpl";
-    my $htdocs = C4::Context->config('intrahtdocs');
-#    my ( $theme, $lang ) = themelanguage( $htdocs, $from, "intranet" );
-	my $theme = C4::Context->preference('template');
-   	my $lang  = C4::Context->preference('language') || 'en';
-
-    #    if (! -e "$htdocs/$theme/$lang/$from") {
-    # doesnt exist
-    eval {
-        open( OUTFILE, ">$htdocs/$theme/$lang/modules/$from" ) || die "Can't open file";
-    };
-    if ($@) {
-        $error = "Cant open file $htdocs/$theme/$lang/modules/$from";
-    }
-    else {
-
+	my $file = _get_filepath($referer);
+	if (! -w $file) {
+		$error = "Cannot write file: '$file'";
+    } else {
+        open (OUTFILE, ">$file") or die "Cannot write file: '$file'";	# unlikely death, since we just checked
         # file is open write to it
-        print OUTFILE "<!-- TMPL_INCLUDE name=\"help-top.inc\" -->\n";
-		if ($type eq 'create'){
-			print OUTFILE "<div class=\"main\">\n";
-		}
-        print OUTFILE "$help\n";
-	    if ($type eq 'create'){
-			print OUTFILE "</div>\n";
-		}
-        print OUTFILE "<!-- TMPL_INCLUDE name=\"help-bottom.inc\" -->\n";
+        print OUTFILE "<!-- TMPL_INCLUDE NAME=\"help-top.inc\" -->\n";
+		print OUTFILE ($type eq 'create') ? "<div class=\"main\">\n$help\n</div>" : $help;
+        print OUTFILE "\n<!-- TMPL_INCLUDE NAME=\"help-bottom.inc\" -->\n";
         close OUTFILE;
 		print $input->redirect("/cgi-bin/koha/help.pl?url=$oldreferer");
     }
-
-
-    #   }
-
 }
 elsif ( $type eq 'modify' ) {
-
     # open file load data, kill include calls, pass data to the template
-    $referer =~ /.*koha\/(.*)\.pl.*/;
-    my $from   = "help/$1.tmpl";
-    my $htdocs = C4::Context->config('intrahtdocs');
-    my ( $theme, $lang ) = themelanguage( $htdocs, $from, "intranet", $input );
-    eval {
-        open( INFILE, "$htdocs/$theme/$lang/modules/$from" ) || die "Can't open file";
-    };
-    if ($@) {
-        $error = "Cant open file $htdocs/$theme/$lang/modules/$from";
-    }
-    my $help;
-    while ( my $inp = <INFILE> ) {
-        if ( $inp =~ /TMPL\_INCLUDE/ ) {
-        }
-        else {
-            $help .= $inp;
-        }
-    }
-    close INFILE;
-    $template->param( 'help' => $help );
-
-    $type = 'save';
+	my $file = _get_filepath($referer, 1);	# 2nd argument triggers themelanguage call
+	if (! -r $file) {
+		$error = "Cannot read file: '$file'.";
+	} else {
+		(-w $file) or $error = 
+			"WARNING: You will not be able save, because your webserver cannot write to '$file'. Contact your admin about help file permissions.";
+    	open (INFILE, $file) or die "Cannot read file '$file'";		# unlikely death, since we just checked
+		my $help = '';
+		while ( my $inp = <INFILE> ) {
+			unless ( $inp =~ /TMPL\_INCLUDE/ ) {
+				$help .= $inp;
+			}
+		}
+		close INFILE;
+    	$template->param( 'help' => $help );
+		$type = 'save';
+	}
 }
 
 $template->param(
     'referer' => $referer,
     'type'    => $type,
-    'error'   => $error,
-
 );
-
+($error) and $template->param('error' => $error);
 output_html_with_http_headers $input, "", $template->output;