diff --git a/classes/File.php b/classes/File.php
index 977c02bce6..fadbda1f9b 100644
--- a/classes/File.php
+++ b/classes/File.php
@@ -94,26 +94,31 @@ class File extends Managed_DataObject
             // We don't have the file's URL since before, so let's continue.
         }
 
-        if (!Event::handle('StartFileSaveNew', array(&$redir_data, $given_url))) {
-            throw new ServerException('File not saved due to an aborted StartFileSaveNew event.');
-        }
-
         $file = new File;
-        $file->urlhash = self::hashurl($given_url);
         $file->url = $given_url;
         if (!empty($redir_data['protected'])) $file->protected = $redir_data['protected'];
         if (!empty($redir_data['title'])) $file->title = $redir_data['title'];
         if (!empty($redir_data['type'])) $file->mimetype = $redir_data['type'];
         if (!empty($redir_data['size'])) $file->size = intval($redir_data['size']);
         if (isset($redir_data['time']) && $redir_data['time'] > 0) $file->date = intval($redir_data['time']);
-        $file_id = $file->insert();
+        $file->saveFile();
+        return $file;
+    }
 
-        if ($file_id === false) {
+    public function saveFile() {
+        $this->urlhash = self::hashurl($this->url);
+
+        if (!Event::handle('StartFileSaveNew', array(&$this))) {
+            throw new ServerException('File not saved due to an aborted StartFileSaveNew event.');
+        }
+
+        $this->id = $this->insert();
+
+        if ($this->id === false) {
             throw new ServerException('File/URL metadata could not be saved to the database.');
         }
 
-        Event::handle('EndFileSaveNew', array($file, $redir_data, $given_url));
-        return $file;
+        Event::handle('EndFileSaveNew', array($this));
     }
 
     /**
@@ -124,7 +129,6 @@ class File extends Managed_DataObject
      * - optionally save a file_to_post record
      * - return the File object with the full reference
      *
-     * @fixme refactor this mess, it's gotten pretty scary.
      * @param string $given_url the URL we're looking at
      * @param Notice $notice (optional)
      * @param bool $followRedirects defaults to true
@@ -143,69 +147,30 @@ class File extends Managed_DataObject
             throw new ServerException('No canonical URL from given URL to process');
         }
 
-        $file = null;
+        $redir = File_redirection::where($given_url);
+        $file = $redir->getFile();
 
-        try {
-            $file = File::getByUrl($given_url);
-        } catch (NoResultException $e) {
-            // First check if we have a lookup trace for this URL already
-            try {
-                $file_redir = File_redirection::getByUrl($given_url);
-                $file = File::getKV('id', $file_redir->file_id);
-                if (!$file instanceof File) {
-                    // File did not exist, let's clean up the File_redirection entry
-                    $file_redir->delete();
-                }
-            } catch (NoResultException $e) {
-                // We just wanted to doublecheck whether a File_thumbnail we might've had
-                // actually referenced an existing File object.
+        // If we still don't have a File object, let's create one now!
+        if (empty($file->id)) {
+            if ($redir->url === $given_url || !$followRedirects) {
+                // Save the File object based on our lookup trace
+                $file->saveFile();
+            } else {
+                $file->saveFile();
+                $redir->file_id = $file->id;
+                $redir->insert();
             }
         }
 
-        // If we still don't have a File object, let's create one now!
-        if (!$file instanceof File) {
-            // @fixme for new URLs this also looks up non-redirect data
-            // such as target content type, size, etc, which we need
-            // for File::saveNew(); so we call it even if not following
-            // new redirects.
-            $redir_data = File_redirection::where($given_url);
-            if (is_array($redir_data)) {
-                $redir_url = $redir_data['url'];
-            } elseif (is_string($redir_data)) {
-                $redir_url = $redir_data;
-                $redir_data = array();
-            } else {
-                // TRANS: Server exception thrown when a URL cannot be processed.
-                throw new ServerException(sprintf(_("Cannot process URL '%s'"), $given_url));
-            }
-
-            if ($redir_url === $given_url || !$followRedirects) {
-                // Save the File object based on our lookup trace
-                $file = File::saveNew($redir_data, $given_url);
-            } else {
-                // This seems kind of messed up... for now skipping this part
-                // if we're already under a redirect, so we don't go into
-                // horrible infinite loops if we've been given an unstable
-                // redirect (where the final destination of the first request
-                // doesn't match what we get when we ask for it again).
-                //
-                // Seen in the wild with clojure.org, which redirects through
-                // wikispaces for auth and appends session data in the URL params.
-                $file = self::processNew($redir_url, $notice, /*followRedirects*/false);
-                File_redirection::saveNew($redir_data, $file->id, $given_url);
-            }
-
-            if (!$file instanceof File) {
-                // This should only happen if File::saveNew somehow did not return a File object,
-                // though we have an assert for that in case the event there might've gone wrong.
-                // If anything else goes wrong, there should've been an exception thrown.
-                throw new ServerException('URL processing failed without new File object');
-            }
+        if (!$file instanceof File || empty($file->id)) {
+            // This should not happen
+            throw new ServerException('URL processing failed without new File object');
         }
 
         if ($notice instanceof Notice) {
             File_to_post::processNew($file, $notice);
         }
+
         return $file;
     }
 
diff --git a/classes/File_redirection.php b/classes/File_redirection.php
index 08302c51d7..0d90b9e82c 100644
--- a/classes/File_redirection.php
+++ b/classes/File_redirection.php
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ class File_redirection extends Managed_DataObject
     /* the code above is auto generated do not remove the tag below */
     ###END_AUTOCODE
 
+    protected $file; /* Cache the associated file sometimes */
+
     public static function schemaDef()
     {
         return array(
@@ -155,41 +157,53 @@ class File_redirection extends Managed_DataObject
      *
      * @param string $in_url
      * @param boolean $discover true to attempt dereferencing the redirect if we don't know it already
-     * @return mixed one of:
-     *         string - target URL, if this is a direct link or a known redirect
-     *         array - redirect info if this is an *unknown* redirect:
-     *              associative array with the following elements:
-     *                code: HTTP status code
-     *                redirects: count of redirects followed
-     *                url: URL string of final target
-     *                type (optional): MIME type from Content-Type header
-     *                size (optional): byte size from Content-Length header
-     *                time (optional): timestamp from Last-Modified header
+     * @return File_redirection
      */
     static function where($in_url, $discover=true) {
-        // let's see if we know this...
+        $redir = new File_redirection();
+        $redir->url = $in_url;
+        $redir->urlhash = File::hashurl($redir->url);
+        $redir->redirections = 0;
+
         try {
-            $a = File::getByUrl($in_url);
-            // this is a direct link to $a->url
-            return $a->url;
+            $r = File_redirection::getByUrl($in_url);
+            if($r instanceof File_redirection) {
+                return $r;
+            }
         } catch (NoResultException $e) {
             try {
-                $b = File_redirection::getByUrl($in_url);
-                // this is a redirect to $b->file_id
-                $a = File::getByID($b->file_id);
-                return $a->url;
+                $f = File::getByUrl($in_url);
+                $redir->file_id = $f->id;
+                $redir->file = $f;
+                return $redir;
             } catch (NoResultException $e) {
                 // Oh well, let's keep going
             }
         }
 
         if ($discover) {
-            $ret = File_redirection::lookupWhere($in_url);
-            return $ret;
+            $redir_info = File_redirection::lookupWhere($in_url);
+            if(is_string($redir_info)) {
+                $redir_info = array('url' => $redir_info);
+            }
+
+            // Double check that we don't already have the resolved URL
+            $r = self::where($redir_info['url'], false);
+            if (!empty($r->file_id)) {
+                return $r;
+            }
         }
 
-        // No manual dereferencing; leave the unknown URL as is.
-        return $in_url;
+        $redir->httpcode = $redir_info['code'];
+        $redir->redirections = intval($redir_info['redirects']);
+        $redir->file = new File();
+        $redir->file->url = $redir_info ? $redir_info['url'] : $in_url;
+        $redir->file->mimetype = $redir_info['type'];
+        $redir->file->size = $redir_info['size'];
+        $redir->file->date = $redir_info['time'];
+        if($redir_info['protected']) $redir->file->protected = true;
+
+        return $redir;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -247,28 +261,12 @@ class File_redirection extends Managed_DataObject
             $short_url = (string)$short_url;
             // store it
             $file = File::getKV('url', $long_url);
-            if ($file instanceof File) {
-                $file_id = $file->getID();
-            } else {
+            if (!$file instanceof File) {
                 // Check if the target URL is itself a redirect...
-                $redir_data = File_redirection::where($long_url);
-                if (is_array($redir_data)) {
-                    // We haven't seen the target URL before.
-                    // Save file and embedding data about it!
-                    $file = File::saveNew($redir_data, $long_url);
-                    $file_id = $file->getID();
-                } else if (is_string($redir_data)) {
-                    // The file is a known redirect target.
-                    $file = File::getKV('url', $redir_data);
-                    if (empty($file)) {
-                        // @fixme should we save a new one?
-                        // this case was triggering sometimes for redirects
-                        // with unresolvable targets; found while fixing
-                        // "can't linkify" bugs with shortened links to
-                        // SSL sites with cert issues.
-                        return null;
-                    }
-                    $file_id = $file->getID();
+                $redir = File_redirection::where($long_url);
+                $file = $redir->getFile();
+                if (empty($file->id)) {
+                    $file->saveFile();
                 }
             }
             $file_redir = File_redirection::getKV('url', $short_url);
@@ -276,7 +274,7 @@ class File_redirection extends Managed_DataObject
                 $file_redir = new File_redirection;
                 $file_redir->urlhash = File::hashurl($short_url);
                 $file_redir->url = $short_url;
-                $file_redir->file_id = $file_id;
+                $file_redir->file_id = $file->id;
                 $file_redir->insert();
             }
             return $short_url;
@@ -385,4 +383,12 @@ class File_redirection extends Managed_DataObject
         echo "DONE.\n";
         echo "Resuming core schema upgrade...";
     }
+
+    public function getFile() {
+        if(empty($this->file) && $this->file_id) {
+            $this->file = File::getKV('id', $this->file_id);
+        }
+
+        return $this->file;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/lib/util.php b/lib/util.php
index 64733986d3..f58e8cd112 100644
--- a/lib/util.php
+++ b/lib/util.php
@@ -987,20 +987,9 @@ function common_linkify($url) {
         $canon = "mailto:$url";
         $longurl = "mailto:$url";
     } else {
-
         $canon = File_redirection::_canonUrl($url);
-
         $longurl_data = File_redirection::where($canon, common_config('attachments', 'process_links'));
-        if (is_array($longurl_data)) {
-            $longurl = $longurl_data['url'];
-        } elseif (is_string($longurl_data)) {
-            $longurl = $longurl_data;
-        } else {
-            // Unable to reach the server to verify contents, etc
-            // Just pass the link on through for now.
-            common_log(LOG_ERR, "Can't linkify url '$url'");
-            $longurl = $url;
-        }
+        $longurl = $longurl_data->url;
     }
 
     $attrs = array('href' => $canon, 'title' => $longurl);
diff --git a/plugins/Oembed/OembedPlugin.php b/plugins/Oembed/OembedPlugin.php
index b5646ab6fc..5e715e895b 100644
--- a/plugins/Oembed/OembedPlugin.php
+++ b/plugins/Oembed/OembedPlugin.php
@@ -90,12 +90,10 @@ class OembedPlugin extends Plugin
      * Normally this event is called through File::saveNew()
      *
      * @param File   $file       The newly inserted File object.
-     * @param array  $redir_data lookup data eg from File_redirection::where()
-     * @param string $given_url
      *
      * @return boolean success
      */
-    public function onEndFileSaveNew(File $file, array $redir_data, $given_url)
+    public function onEndFileSaveNew(File $file)
     {
         $fo = File_oembed::getKV('file_id', $file->id);
         if ($fo instanceof File_oembed) {
@@ -103,15 +101,12 @@ class OembedPlugin extends Plugin
             return true;
         }
 
-        if (isset($redir_data['oembed']['json'])
-                && !empty($redir_data['oembed']['json'])) {
-            File_oembed::saveNew($redir_data['oembed']['json'], $file->id);
-        } elseif (isset($redir_data['type'])
-                && (('text/html' === substr($redir_data['type'], 0, 9)
-                || 'application/xhtml+xml' === substr($redir_data['type'], 0, 21)))) {
+        if (isset($file->mimetype)
+            && (('text/html' === substr($file->mimetype, 0, 9)
+            || 'application/xhtml+xml' === substr($file->mimetype, 0, 21)))) {
 
             try {
-                $oembed_data = File_oembed::_getOembed($given_url);
+                $oembed_data = File_oembed::_getOembed($file->url);
                 if ($oembed_data === false) {
                     throw new Exception('Did not get oEmbed data from URL');
                 }
diff --git a/plugins/Oembed/classes/File_oembed.php b/plugins/Oembed/classes/File_oembed.php
index 07629b6ab9..e557e70ddb 100644
--- a/plugins/Oembed/classes/File_oembed.php
+++ b/plugins/Oembed/classes/File_oembed.php
@@ -128,12 +128,12 @@ class File_oembed extends Managed_DataObject
                 if ($file instanceof File) {
                     $file_oembed->mimetype = $file->mimetype;
                 } else {
-                    $file_redir = File_redirection::getKV('url', $given_url);
-                    if (empty($file_redir)) {
-                        $redir_data = File_redirection::where($given_url);
-                        $file_oembed->mimetype = $redir_data['type'];
+                    $redir = File_redirection::where($given_url);
+                    if (empty($redir->file_id)) {
+                        $f = $redir->getFile();
+                        $file_oembed->mimetype = $f->mimetype;
                     } else {
-                        $file_id = $file_redir->file_id;
+                        $file_id = $redir->file_id;
                     }
                 }
             }
diff --git a/plugins/StoreRemoteMedia/StoreRemoteMediaPlugin.php b/plugins/StoreRemoteMedia/StoreRemoteMediaPlugin.php
index 798d7bc79f..25f3b31f71 100644
--- a/plugins/StoreRemoteMedia/StoreRemoteMediaPlugin.php
+++ b/plugins/StoreRemoteMedia/StoreRemoteMediaPlugin.php
@@ -30,29 +30,27 @@ class StoreRemoteMediaPlugin extends Plugin
      *
      * Normally this event is called through File::saveNew()
      *
-     * @param File   $file       The newly inserted File object.
-     * @param array  $redir_data lookup data eg from File_redirection::where()
-     * @param string $given_url
+     * @param File   $file       The abount-to-be-inserted File object.
      *
      * @return boolean success
      */
-    public function onStartFileSaveNew(array &$redir_data, $given_url)
+    public function onStartFileSaveNew(File &$file)
     {
         // save given URL as title if it's a media file this plugin understands
         // which will make it shown in the AttachmentList widgets
 
-        if (isset($redir_data['title']) && strlen($redir_data['title']>0)) {
+        if (isset($file->title) && strlen($file->title)>0) {
             // Title is already set
             return true;
         }
-        if (!isset($redir_data['type'])) {
+        if (!isset($file->mimetype)) {
             // Unknown mimetype, it's not our job to figure out what it is.
             return true;
         }
-        switch (common_get_mime_media($redir_data['type'])) {
+        switch (common_get_mime_media($file->mimetype)) {
         case 'image':
             // Just to set something for now at least...
-            $redir_data['title'] = $given_url;
+            $file->title = $file->mimetype;
             break;
         }