diff --git a/plugins/EmailRegistration/EmailRegistrationPlugin.php b/plugins/EmailRegistration/EmailRegistrationPlugin.php
index 7cbb8a85f3..548702514a 100644
--- a/plugins/EmailRegistration/EmailRegistrationPlugin.php
+++ b/plugins/EmailRegistration/EmailRegistrationPlugin.php
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ if (!defined('STATUSNET')) {
  */
 class EmailRegistrationPlugin extends Plugin
 {
+    const CONFIRMTYPE = 'register';
+
     function onAutoload($cls)
     {
         $dir = dirname(__FILE__);
@@ -98,6 +100,90 @@ class EmailRegistrationPlugin extends Plugin
         return true;
     }
 
+    static function registerEmail($email)
+    {
+        $old = User::staticGet('email', $email);
+
+        if (!empty($old)) {
+            // TRANS: Error text when trying to register with an already registered e-mail address.
+            // TRANS: %s is the URL to recover password at.
+            throw new ClientException(sprintf(_m('A user with that email address already exists. You can use the '.
+                                                 '<a href="%s">password recovery</a> tool to recover a missing password.'),
+                                              common_local_url('recoverpassword')));
+        }
+
+        $valid = false;
+
+        if (Event::handle('StartValidateUserEmail', array(null, $email, &$valid))) {
+            $valid = Validate::email($email, common_config('email', 'check_domain'));
+            Event::handle('EndValidateUserEmail', array(null, $email, &$valid));
+        }
+
+        if (!$valid) {
+            // TRANS: Error text when trying to register with an invalid e-mail address.
+            throw new ClientException(_m('Not a valid email address.'));
+        }
+
+        $confirm = Confirm_address::getAddress($email, self::CONFIRMTYPE);
+
+        if (empty($confirm)) {
+            $confirm = Confirm_address::saveNew(null, $email, 'register');
+        }
+
+        return $confirm;
+    }
+
+    static function nicknameFromEmail($email)
+    {
+        $parts = explode('@', $email);
+
+        $nickname = $parts[0];
+
+        $nickname = preg_replace('/[^A-Za-z0-9]/', '', $nickname);
+
+        $nickname = Nickname::normalize($nickname);
+
+        $original = $nickname;
+
+        $n = 0;
+
+        while (User::staticGet('nickname', $nickname)) {
+            $n++;
+            $nickname = $original . $n;
+        }
+
+        return $nickname;
+    }
+
+    static function sendConfirmEmail($confirm)
+    {
+        $sitename = common_config('site', 'name');
+
+        $recipients = array($confirm->address);
+
+        $headers['From'] = mail_notify_from();
+        $headers['To'] = trim($confirm->address);
+         // TRANS: Subject for confirmation e-mail.
+         // TRANS: %s is the StatusNet sitename.
+        $headers['Subject'] = sprintf(_m('Confirm your registration on %s'), $sitename);
+
+        $confirmUrl = common_local_url('register', array('code' => $confirm->code));
+
+         // TRANS: Body for confirmation e-mail.
+         // TRANS: %1$s is the StatusNet sitename, %2$s is the confirmation URL.
+        $body = sprintf(_m('Someone (probably you) has requested an account on %1$s using this email address.'.
+                          "\n".
+                          'To confirm the address, click the following URL or copy it into the address bar of your browser.'.
+                          "\n".
+                          '%2$s'.
+                          "\n".
+                          'If it was not you, you can safely ignore this message.'),
+                        $sitename,
+                        $confirmUrl);
+
+        mail_send($recipients, $headers, $body);
+    }
+
     function onPluginVersion(&$versions)
     {
         $versions[] = array('name' => 'EmailRegistration',
diff --git a/plugins/EmailRegistration/emailregister.php b/plugins/EmailRegistration/emailregister.php
index 4bda1d9ced..3afac7d1f5 100644
--- a/plugins/EmailRegistration/emailregister.php
+++ b/plugins/EmailRegistration/emailregister.php
@@ -201,53 +201,20 @@ class EmailregisterAction extends Action
 
     function registerUser()
     {
-        $old = User::staticGet('email', $this->email);
-
-        if (!empty($old)) {
-            // TRANS: Error text when trying to register with an already registered e-mail address.
-            // TRANS: %s is the URL to recover password at.
-            $this->error = sprintf(_m('A user with that email address already exists. You can use the '.
-                                     '<a href="%s">password recovery</a> tool to recover a missing password.'),
-                                   common_local_url('recoverpassword'));
-            $this->showRegistrationForm();
-            return;
-        }
-
-        $valid = false;
-
         try {
-            if (Event::handle('StartValidateUserEmail', array(null, $this->email, &$valid))) {
-                $valid = Validate::email($this->email, common_config('email', 'check_domain'));
-                Event::handle('EndValidateUserEmail', array(null, $this->email, &$valid));
-            }
-            if (!$valid) {
-                // TRANS: Error text when trying to register with an invalid e-mail address.
-                $this->error = _m('Not a valid email address.');
-                $this->showRegistrationForm();
-                return;
-            }
-        } catch (ClientException $e) {
-            $this->error = $e->getMessage();
+            $confirm = EmailRegistrationPlugin::registerEmail($this->email);
+        } catch (ClientException $ce) {
+            $this->error = $ce->getMessage();
             $this->showRegistrationForm();
             return;
         }
 
-        $confirm = Confirm_address::getAddress($this->email, self::CONFIRMTYPE);
+        EmailRegistrationPlugin::sendConfirmEmail($confirm);
 
-        if (empty($confirm)) {
-            $confirm = Confirm_address::saveNew(null, $this->email, 'register');
-            // TRANS: Confirmation text after initial registration.
-            // TRANS: %s an e-mail address.
-            $prompt = sprintf(_m('An email was sent to %s to confirm that address. Check your email inbox for instructions.'),
-                              $this->email);
-        } else {
-            // TRANS: Confirmation text after re-requesting an e-mail confirmation code.
-            // TRANS: %s is an e-mail address.
-            $prompt = sprintf(_m('The address %s was already registered but not confirmed. The confirmation code was resent.'),
-                              $this->email);
-        }
-
-        $this->sendConfirmEmail($confirm);
+        // TRANS: Confirmation text after initial registration.
+        // TRANS: %s an e-mail address.
+        $prompt = sprintf(_m('An email was sent to %s to confirm that address. Check your email inbox for instructions.'),
+                          $this->email);
 
         $this->complete = $prompt;
 
@@ -411,24 +378,7 @@ class EmailregisterAction extends Action
 
     function nicknameFromEmail($email)
     {
-        $parts = explode('@', $email);
-
-        $nickname = $parts[0];
-
-        $nickname = preg_replace('/[^A-Za-z0-9]/', '', $nickname);
-
-        $nickname = Nickname::normalize($nickname);
-
-        $original = $nickname;
-
-        $n = 0;
-
-        while (User::staticGet('nickname', $nickname)) {
-            $n++;
-            $nickname = $original . $n;
-        }
-
-        return $nickname;
+        return EmailRegistrationPlugin::nicknameFromEmail($email);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/plugins/EmailRegistration/scripts/registeremailuser.php b/plugins/EmailRegistration/scripts/registeremailuser.php
index 1807fd7f9a..a8c942d3dd 100644
--- a/plugins/EmailRegistration/scripts/registeremailuser.php
+++ b/plugins/EmailRegistration/scripts/registeremailuser.php
@@ -21,7 +21,11 @@
 define('INSTALLDIR', realpath(dirname(__FILE__) . '/../../..'));
 
 $helptext = <<<END_OF_REGISTEREMAILUSER_HELP
-registeremailuser.php [options] <email>
+registeremailuser.php [options] <email address>
+
+Options:
+-e --email     Send a confirmation message to the email address
+
 register a new user by email address.
 
 END_OF_REGISTEREMAILUSER_HELP;
@@ -35,6 +39,11 @@ if (count($args) == 0) {
 $email = $args[0];
 
 $confirm = EmailRegistrationPlugin::registerEmail($email);
+
+if (have_option('e', 'email')) {
+    EmailRegistrationPlugin::sendConfirmEmail($confirm);
+}
+
 $confirmUrl = common_local_url('register', array('code' => $confirm->code));
 
 print $confirmUrl."\n";