diff --git a/gmusicbrowser.pl b/gmusicbrowser.pl
index ab0be029..bdaf8068 100755
--- a/gmusicbrowser.pl
+++ b/gmusicbrowser.pl
@@ -410,13 +410,11 @@ BEGIN
 	if (!$running && !$CmdLine{noDBus})
 	{	eval {require 'gmusicbrowser_dbus.pm'}
 		|| warn "Error loading gmusicbrowser_dbus.pm :\n$@ => controlling gmusicbrowser through DBus won't be possible.\n\n";
-		eval
-		{	my $bus= $GMB::DBus::bus || die;
-			my $service = $bus->get_service($DBus_id) || die;
-			my $object = $service->get_object('/org/gmusicbrowser', 'org.gmusicbrowser') || die;
-			$object->RunCommand($_) for @cmd;
-		};
-		$running="using DBus id=$DBus_id" unless $@;
+		my $object= GMB::DBus::simple_call("$DBus_id org.gmusicbrowser/org/gmusicbrowser");
+		if ($object)
+		{	$object->RunCommand($_) for @cmd;
+			$running="using DBus id=$DBus_id";
+		}
 	}
 	if ($running)
 	{	warn "Found a running instance ($running)\n";
diff --git a/gmusicbrowser_dbus.pm b/gmusicbrowser_dbus.pm
index a540d992..198413a3 100644
--- a/gmusicbrowser_dbus.pm
+++ b/gmusicbrowser_dbus.pm
@@ -151,6 +151,27 @@ sub init
 	0; #called in an idle, return 0 to run only once
 }
 
+use Net::DBus::Annotation qw(:call);
+sub simple_call #$service_path can be service_and_path separated by space, or the object
+{	my ($service_path,$method,$args,$reply)=@_;
+	my $return= eval
+	{	my $object;
+		if (ref $service_path) { $object=$service_path }
+		else
+		{	my ($name,$path)= split / +/,$service_path,2;
+			my $service= $bus->get_service($name);
+			return $service unless $path;
+			my $interface= $path=~s#^([^/]+)## ? $1 : undef;
+			$object = $service->get_object($path,$interface);
+		}
+		return $object unless $method;
+		$reply&&= $reply eq 'async' ? dbus_call_async :
+			  $reply eq 'noreply' ? dbus_call_noreply : undef;
+		return $object->$method(($reply||()),@$args);
+	};
+	return $@ ? undef : $return;
+}
+
 sub DBus_mainloop_hack
 {	# use Net::DBus internals to connect it to the Glib mainloop, though unlikely, it may break with future version of Net::DBus
 	use Net::DBus::Reactor;
diff --git a/plugins/gnome_mmkeys.pm b/plugins/gnome_mmkeys.pm
index 40faa1ae..1a86314a 100644
--- a/plugins/gnome_mmkeys.pm
+++ b/plugins/gnome_mmkeys.pm
@@ -24,16 +24,12 @@ my %Names=
   mate	=> 'org.mate.SettingsDaemon  /org/mate/SettingsDaemon/MediaKeys',
 );
 
-my $bus= Net::DBus->find;
-my ($service,$object);
+my $object;
 for my $desktop (qw/gnome mate ognome/)
-{	my ($name,$path)= split /\s+/, $Names{$desktop};
-	eval
-	{	$service= $bus->get_service($name);
-		$object = $service->get_object($path);
-		$object->connect_to_signal(MediaPlayerKeyPressed => \&callback);
-	};
-	last if $object && !$@;
+{	if ($object= GMB::DBus::simple_call($Names{$desktop}))
+	{	$object->connect_to_signal(MediaPlayerKeyPressed => \&callback);
+		last
+	}
 }
 die "Can't find the dbus Settings Daemon for gnome or MATE\n" if $@;