diff --git a/guile/mu-guile-message.c b/guile/mu-guile-message.c
index 7f9a45b3..a363021a 100644
--- a/guile/mu-guile-message.c
+++ b/guile/mu-guile-message.c
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ SCM_DEFINE (get_field, "mu:c:get-field", 2, 0, 0,
 		data = mu_guile_scm_from_str
 			(mu_msg_get_field_string (msgwrap->_msg, mfid));
 		/* explicitly close the file backend, so we won't run of fds */
-		mu_msg_close_file_backend (msgwrap->_msg);
+		mu_msg_unload_msg_file (msgwrap->_msg);
 		return data;
 	}
 
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ SCM_DEFINE (get_contacts, "mu:c:get-contacts", 2, 0, 0,
 				(MuMsgContactForeachFunc)contacts_to_list,
 				&ecdata);
 	/* explicitly close the file backend, so we won't run out of fds */
-	mu_msg_close_file_backend (msgwrap->_msg);
+	mu_msg_unload_msg_file (msgwrap->_msg);
 
 	return ecdata.lst;
 }
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ SCM_DEFINE (get_parts, "mu:c:get-parts", 1, 1, 0,
 			     &attinfo);
 
 	/* explicitly close the file backend, so we won't run of fds */
-	mu_msg_close_file_backend (msgwrap->_msg);
+	mu_msg_unload_msg_file (msgwrap->_msg);
 
 	return attinfo.attlist;
 }
@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ SCM_DEFINE (get_header, "mu:c:get-header", 2, 0, 0,
 	free (header);
 
 	/* explicitly close the file backend, so we won't run of fds */
-	mu_msg_close_file_backend (msgwrap->_msg);
+	mu_msg_unload_msg_file (msgwrap->_msg);
 
 	return val;
 }
diff --git a/lib/mu-msg-part.c b/lib/mu-msg-part.c
index 53fc38f8..deb99217 100644
--- a/lib/mu-msg-part.c
+++ b/lib/mu-msg-part.c
@@ -275,33 +275,6 @@ part_foreach_cb (GMimeObject *parent, GMimeObject *mobj, PartData *pdata)
 }
 
 
-static gboolean
-load_msg_file_maybe (MuMsg *msg)
-{
-	GError *err;
-
-	if (msg->_file)
-		return TRUE;
-
-	err = NULL;
-	msg->_file = mu_msg_file_new (mu_msg_get_path(msg), NULL,
-				      &err);
-	if (!msg->_file) {
-		MU_HANDLE_G_ERROR(err); /* will free it */
-		return FALSE;
-	}
-
-	if (!msg->_file->_mime_msg) {
-		mu_msg_file_destroy (msg->_file);
-		msg->_file = NULL;
-		g_warning ("failed to create mime-msg");
-		return FALSE;
-	}
-
-	return TRUE;
-}
-
-
 void
 mu_msg_part_foreach (MuMsg *msg, gboolean recurse_rfc822,
 		     MuMsgPartForeachFunc func, gpointer user_data)
@@ -311,7 +284,7 @@ mu_msg_part_foreach (MuMsg *msg, gboolean recurse_rfc822,
 
 	g_return_if_fail (msg);
 
-	if (!load_msg_file_maybe (msg))
+	if (!mu_msg_load_msg_file (msg, NULL))
 		return;
 
 	mime_msg = msg->_file->_mime_msg;
@@ -437,7 +410,7 @@ mu_msg_part_filepath (MuMsg *msg, const char* targetdir, guint partidx,
 	char *fname, *filepath;
 	GMimeObject* mobj;
 
-	if (!load_msg_file_maybe (msg))
+	if (!mu_msg_load_msg_file (msg, NULL))
 		return NULL;
 
 	if (!(mobj = find_part (msg, partidx))) {
@@ -485,7 +458,7 @@ mu_msg_part_filepath_cache (MuMsg *msg, guint partid)
 
 	g_return_val_if_fail (msg, NULL);
 
-	if (!load_msg_file_maybe (msg))
+	if (!mu_msg_load_msg_file (msg, NULL))
 		return NULL;
 
 	path = mu_msg_get_path (msg);
@@ -523,7 +496,7 @@ mu_msg_part_save (MuMsg *msg, const char *fullpath, guint partidx,
 	g_return_val_if_fail (fullpath, FALSE);
 	g_return_val_if_fail (!overwrite||!use_cached, FALSE);
 
-	if (!load_msg_file_maybe (msg))
+	if (!mu_msg_load_msg_file (msg, NULL))
 		return FALSE;
 
 	part = find_part (msg, partidx);
@@ -620,7 +593,7 @@ mu_msg_part_find_cid (MuMsg *msg, const char* sought_cid)
 	g_return_val_if_fail (msg, -1);
 	g_return_val_if_fail (sought_cid, -1);
 
-	if (!load_msg_file_maybe (msg))
+	if (!mu_msg_load_msg_file (msg, NULL))
 		return -1;
 
 	cid = g_str_has_prefix (sought_cid, "cid:") ?
@@ -671,7 +644,7 @@ mu_msg_part_find_files (MuMsg *msg, const GRegex *pattern)
 	g_return_val_if_fail (msg, NULL);
 	g_return_val_if_fail (pattern, NULL);
 
-	if (!load_msg_file_maybe (msg))
+	if (!mu_msg_load_msg_file (msg, NULL))
 		return NULL;
 
 	mdata._lst = NULL;
diff --git a/lib/mu-msg-priv.h b/lib/mu-msg-priv.h
index 3d0e704b..dd93a695 100644
--- a/lib/mu-msg-priv.h
+++ b/lib/mu-msg-priv.h
@@ -81,7 +81,6 @@ gchar* mu_msg_mime_part_to_string (GMimePart *part, gboolean *err);
  */
 GMimePart* mu_msg_mime_get_body_part (GMimeMessage *msg, gboolean want_html);
 
-
-G_END_DECLS
+ G_END_DECLS
 
 #endif /*__MU_MSG_PRIV_H__*/
diff --git a/lib/mu-msg.c b/lib/mu-msg.c
index 1330b22a..b8c5cac9 100644
--- a/lib/mu-msg.c
+++ b/lib/mu-msg.c
@@ -107,14 +107,6 @@ mu_msg_new_from_file (const char *path, const char *mdir, GError **err)
 }
 
 
-void
-mu_msg_close_file_backend (MuMsg *msg)
-{
-	g_return_if_fail (msg);
-
-	mu_msg_file_destroy (msg->_file);
-	msg->_file = NULL;
-}
 
 
 MuMsg*
@@ -220,29 +212,39 @@ get_path (MuMsg *self)
 
 
 /* for some data, we need to read the message file from disk */
-static MuMsgFile*
-get_msg_file (MuMsg *self)
+gboolean
+mu_msg_load_msg_file (MuMsg *self, GError **err)
 {
-	MuMsgFile *mfile;
 	const char *path;
-	GError *err;
 
-	if (!(path = get_path (self)))
-		return NULL;
+	g_return_val_if_fail (self, FALSE);
 
-	err = NULL;
-	mfile = mu_msg_file_new (path, NULL, &err);
-	if (!mfile) {
-		g_warning ("%s: failed to create MuMsgFile: %s",
-			   __FUNCTION__, err->message ? err->message : "?");
-		g_error_free (err);
-		return NULL;
+	if (self->_file)
+		return TRUE; /* nothing to do */
+
+	if (!(path = get_path (self))) {
+		mu_util_g_set_error (err, MU_ERROR_INTERNAL,
+				     "cannot get path for message");
+		return FALSE;
 	}
 
-	return mfile;
+	self->_file = mu_msg_file_new (path, NULL, err);
+
+	return  (self->_file != NULL);
 }
 
 
+void
+mu_msg_unload_msg_file (MuMsg *msg)
+{
+	g_return_if_fail (msg);
+
+	mu_msg_file_destroy (msg->_file);
+	msg->_file = NULL;
+}
+
+
+
 static const GSList*
 get_str_list_field (MuMsg *self, MuMsgFieldId mfid)
 {
@@ -262,9 +264,7 @@ get_str_list_field (MuMsg *self, MuMsgFieldId mfid)
 	else {
 		/* if we don't have a file object yet, we need to
 		 * create it from the file on disk */
-		if (!self->_file)
-			self->_file = get_msg_file (self);
-		if (!self->_file && !(self->_file = get_msg_file (self)))
+		if (!mu_msg_load_msg_file (self, NULL))
 			return NULL;
 		val = mu_msg_file_get_str_list_field (self->_file, mfid,
 						      &do_free);
@@ -298,9 +298,7 @@ get_str_field (MuMsg *self, MuMsgFieldId mfid)
 	else if (mu_msg_field_gmime (mfid)) {
 		/* if we don't have a file object yet, we need to
 		 * create it from the file on disk */
-		if (!self->_file)
-			self->_file = get_msg_file (self);
-		if (!self->_file && !(self->_file = get_msg_file (self)))
+		if (!mu_msg_load_msg_file (self, NULL))
 			return NULL;
 		val = mu_msg_file_get_str_field (self->_file, mfid, &do_free);
 	} else {
@@ -332,9 +330,7 @@ get_num_field (MuMsg *self, MuMsgFieldId mfid)
 	else {
 		/* if we don't have a file object yet, we need to
 		 * create it from the file on disk */
-		if (!self->_file)
-			self->_file = get_msg_file (self);
-		if (!self->_file && !(self->_file = get_msg_file (self)))
+		if (!mu_msg_load_msg_file (self, NULL))
 			return -1;
 		val = mu_msg_file_get_num_field (self->_file, mfid);
 	}
@@ -351,9 +347,7 @@ mu_msg_get_header (MuMsg *self, const char *header)
 
 	/* if we don't have a file object yet, we need to
 	 * create it from the file on disk */
-	if (!self->_file)
-		self->_file = get_msg_file (self);
-	if (!self->_file && !(self->_file = get_msg_file (self)))
+	if (!mu_msg_load_msg_file (self, NULL))
 		return NULL;
 
 	return mu_msg_file_get_header (self->_file, header);
diff --git a/lib/mu-msg.h b/lib/mu-msg.h
index c8f83472..b1844db9 100644
--- a/lib/mu-msg.h
+++ b/lib/mu-msg.h
@@ -69,6 +69,18 @@ MuMsg *mu_msg_new_from_doc (XapianDocument* doc, GError **err)
 	G_GNUC_MALLOC G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
 
 
+/**
+ *  if we don't have a message file yet (because this message is
+ *  database-backed), load it.
+ *
+ * @param msg a MuMsg
+ * @param err receives error information
+ *
+ * @return TRUE if this succceeded, FALSE in case of error
+ */
+gboolean mu_msg_load_msg_file (MuMsg *msg, GError **err);
+
+
 /**
  * close the file-backend, if any; this function is for the use case
  * where you have a large amount of messages where you need some
@@ -79,7 +91,9 @@ MuMsg *mu_msg_new_from_doc (XapianDocument* doc, GError **err)
  *
  * @param msg a message object
  */
-void mu_msg_close_file_backend (MuMsg *msg);
+void mu_msg_unload_msg_file (MuMsg *msg);
+
+
 
 /**
  * increase the reference count for this message