diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/DataCollector/DataCollector.php b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/DataCollector/DataCollector.php
index 7d9c28943b..bf2c97f8e6 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/DataCollector/DataCollector.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/DataCollector/DataCollector.php
@@ -11,17 +11,26 @@
 
 namespace Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\DataCollector;
 
+use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\DataCollector\Util\ValueExporter;
+use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\DataCollector\Util\ValueExporterInterface;
+
 /**
  * DataCollector.
  *
  * Children of this class must store the collected data in the data property.
  *
  * @author Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ * @author Bernhard Schussek <bschussek@symfony.com>
  */
 abstract class DataCollector implements DataCollectorInterface, \Serializable
 {
     protected $data;
 
+    /**
+     * @var ValueExporter
+     */
+    private $valueExporter;
+
     public function serialize()
     {
         return serialize($this->data);
@@ -41,35 +50,10 @@ abstract class DataCollector implements DataCollectorInterface, \Serializable
      */
     protected function varToString($var)
     {
-        if (is_object($var)) {
-            return sprintf('Object(%s)', get_class($var));
+        if (null === $this->valueExporter) {
+            $this->valueExporter = new ValueExporter();
         }
 
-        if (is_array($var)) {
-            $a = array();
-            foreach ($var as $k => $v) {
-                $a[] = sprintf('%s => %s', $k, $this->varToString($v));
-            }
-
-            return sprintf("Array(%s)", implode(', ', $a));
-        }
-
-        if (is_resource($var)) {
-            return sprintf('Resource(%s)', get_resource_type($var));
-        }
-
-        if (null === $var) {
-            return 'null';
-        }
-
-        if (false === $var) {
-            return 'false';
-        }
-
-        if (true === $var) {
-            return 'true';
-        }
-
-        return (string) $var;
+        $this->valueExporter->exportValue($var);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/DataCollector/Util/ValueExporter.php b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/DataCollector/Util/ValueExporter.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f3aeb80cb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/DataCollector/Util/ValueExporter.php
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\DataCollector\Util;
+
+/**
+ * @author Bernhard Schussek <bschussek@gmail.com>
+ */
+class ValueExporter
+{
+    /**
+     * Converts a PHP value to a string.
+     *
+     * @param mixed $value The PHP value
+     *
+     * @return string The string representation of the given value
+     */
+    public function exportValue($value)
+    {
+        if (is_object($value)) {
+            return sprintf('Object(%s)', get_class($value));
+        }
+
+        if (is_array($value)) {
+            $a = array();
+            foreach ($value as $k => $v) {
+                $a[] = sprintf('%s => %s', $k, $this->exportValue($v));
+            }
+
+            return sprintf("Array(%s)", implode(', ', $a));
+        }
+
+        if (is_resource($value)) {
+            return sprintf('Resource(%s)', get_resource_type($value));
+        }
+
+        if (null === $value) {
+            return 'null';
+        }
+
+        if (false === $value) {
+            return 'false';
+        }
+
+        if (true === $value) {
+            return 'true';
+        }
+
+        return (string) $value;
+    }
+}