diff --git a/modules/simpletest/drupal_web_test_case.php b/modules/simpletest/drupal_web_test_case.php
index 6279d59b4a8..8422558c342 100644
--- a/modules/simpletest/drupal_web_test_case.php
+++ b/modules/simpletest/drupal_web_test_case.php
@@ -876,7 +876,7 @@ class DrupalWebTestCase {
     if ($this->parse()) {
       $edit_save = $edit;
       // Let's iterate over all the forms.
-      $forms = $this->elements->xpath('//form');
+      $forms = $this->xpath('//form');
       foreach ($forms as $form) {
         // We try to set the fields of this form as specified in $edit.
         $edit = $edit_save;
@@ -1067,6 +1067,24 @@ class DrupalWebTestCase {
     return $submit_matches;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Peform an xpath search on the contents of the internal browser. The search
+   * is relative to the root element (HTML tag normally) of the page.
+   *
+   * @param $xpath
+   *   The xpath string to use in the search.
+   * @return
+   *   The return value of the xpath search. For details on the xpath string
+   *   format and return values see the SimpleXML documentation.
+   *   http://us.php.net/manual/function.simplexml-element-xpath.php
+   */
+  public function xpath($xpath) {
+    if ($this->parse()) {
+      return $this->elements->xpath($xpath);
+    }
+    return FALSE;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Get all option elements, including nested options, in a select.
    *
@@ -1108,15 +1126,13 @@ class DrupalWebTestCase {
   function clickLink($label, $index = 0) {
     $url_before = $this->getUrl();
     $ret = FALSE;
-    if ($this->parse()) {
-      $urls = $this->elements->xpath('//a[text()="' . $label . '"]');
-      if (isset($urls[$index])) {
-        $url_target = $this->getAbsoluteUrl($urls[$index]['href']);
-        $curl_options = array(CURLOPT_URL => $url_target);
-        $ret = $this->curlExec($curl_options);
-      }
-      $this->assertTrue($ret, t('Clicked link !label (!url_target) from !url_before', array('!label' => $label, '!url_target' => $url_target, '!url_before' => $url_before)), t('Browser'));
+    $urls = $this->xpath('//a[text()="' . $label . '"]');
+    if (isset($urls[$index])) {
+      $url_target = $this->getAbsoluteUrl($urls[$index]['href']);
+      $curl_options = array(CURLOPT_URL => $url_target);
+      $ret = $this->curlExec($curl_options);
     }
+    $this->assertTrue($ret, t('Clicked link !label (!url_target) from !url_before', array('!label' => $label, '!url_target' => $url_target, '!url_before' => $url_before)), t('Browser'));
     return $ret;
   }
 
@@ -1322,7 +1338,7 @@ class DrupalWebTestCase {
    *   TRUE on pass, FALSE on fail.
    */
   function assertTitle($title, $message, $group = 'Other') {
-    return $this->_assert($this->parse() && $this->elements->xpath('//title[text()="' . $title . '"]'), $message, $group);
+    return $this->_assert($this->xpath('//title[text()="' . $title . '"]') !== FALSE, $message, $group);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -1340,18 +1356,17 @@ class DrupalWebTestCase {
    *   TRUE on pass, FALSE on fail.
    */
   function assertFieldByXPath($xpath, $value, $message, $group = 'Other') {
-    $fields = array();
-    if ($this->parse()) {
-      $fields = $this->elements->xpath($xpath);
-    }
+    $fields = $this->xpath($xpath);
 
     // If value specified then check array for match.
     $found = TRUE;
     if ($value) {
       $found = FALSE;
-      foreach ($fields as $field) {
-        if ($field['value'] == $value) {
-          $found = TRUE;
+      if ($fields) {
+        foreach ($fields as $field) {
+          if ($field['value'] == $value) {
+            $found = TRUE;
+          }
         }
       }
     }
@@ -1373,18 +1388,17 @@ class DrupalWebTestCase {
    *   TRUE on pass, FALSE on fail.
    */
   function assertNoFieldByXPath($xpath, $value, $message, $group = 'Other') {
-    $fields = array();
-    if ($this->parse()) {
-      $fields = $this->elements->xpath($xpath);
-    }
+    $fields = $this->xpath($xpath);
 
     // If value specified then check array for match.
     $found = TRUE;
     if ($value) {
       $found = FALSE;
-      foreach ($fields as $field) {
-        if ($field['value'] == $value) {
-          $found = TRUE;
+      if ($fields) {
+        foreach ($fields as $field) {
+          if ($field['value'] == $value) {
+            $found = TRUE;
+          }
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/modules/simpletest/simpletest.test b/modules/simpletest/simpletest.test
index c66a6dd55c4..a2e212b5772 100644
--- a/modules/simpletest/simpletest.test
+++ b/modules/simpletest/simpletest.test
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ class SimpleTestTestCase extends DrupalWebTestCase {
    * @return fieldset containing the results for group this test is in.
    */
   function getResultFieldSet() {
-    $fieldsets = $this->elements->xpath('//fieldset');
+    $fieldsets = $this->xpath('//fieldset');
     $info = $this->getInfo();
     foreach ($fieldsets as $fieldset) {
       if ($fieldset->legend == $info['group']) {
diff --git a/modules/syslog/syslog.test b/modules/syslog/syslog.test
index 65026b867a9..a9693d676e0 100644
--- a/modules/syslog/syslog.test
+++ b/modules/syslog/syslog.test
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class SyslogTestCase extends DrupalWebTestCase {
 
     $this->drupalGet('admin/settings/logging/syslog');
     if ($this->parse()) {
-      $field = $this->elements->xpath('//option[@value="' . $edit['syslog_facility'] . '"]'); // Should be one field.
+      $field = $this->xpath('//option[@value="' . $edit['syslog_facility'] . '"]'); // Should be one field.
       $this->assertTrue($field[0]['selected'] == 'selected', t('Facility value saved.'));
     }
   }
diff --git a/modules/system/system.test b/modules/system/system.test
index 22fc1fb6057..c3950fca8b7 100644
--- a/modules/system/system.test
+++ b/modules/system/system.test
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ class AdminOverviewTestCase extends DrupalWebTestCase {
     if ($this->parse()) {
       $found = 0;
       $extra = 0;
-      $divs = $this->elements->xpath("//div[@class='admin-panel']");
+      $divs = $this->xpath("//div[@class='admin-panel']");
       foreach ($divs as $panel) {
         if (in_array(trim($panel->h3), $panels)) {
           $found++;