diff --git a/includes/EmailFormatter.php b/includes/EmailFormatter.php
index 45b6a4320..d8472b886 100644
--- a/includes/EmailFormatter.php
+++ b/includes/EmailFormatter.php
@@ -169,28 +169,9 @@ abstract class EchoEmailMode {
 	 * @return string
 	 */
 	public static function getNotifIcon( $icon ) {
-		global $wgEchoNotificationIcons, $wgExtensionAssetsPath, $wgLang;
+		global $wgLang;
 
-		$iconInfo = $wgEchoNotificationIcons[$icon];
-		if ( isset( $iconInfo['url'] ) && $iconInfo['url'] ) {
-			$iconUrl = $iconInfo['url'];
-		} else {
-			if ( !isset( $iconInfo['path'] ) || !$iconInfo['path'] ) {
-				$iconInfo = $wgEchoNotificationIcons['placeholder'];
-			}
-			if ( is_array( $iconInfo['path'] ) ) {
-				$dir = $wgLang->getDir();
-				if ( isset( $iconInfo['path'][$dir] ) ) {
-					$path = $iconInfo['path'][$dir];
-				} else {
-					wfDebugLog( 'Echo', "The \"$icon\" icon does not have anything set for $dir direction." );
-					$path = $wgEchoNotificationIcons['placeholder']['path']; // Fallback
-				}
-			} else {
-				$path = $iconInfo['path'];
-			}
-			$iconUrl = "$wgExtensionAssetsPath/$path";
-		}
+		$iconUrl = EchoNotificationFormatter::getIconUrl( $icon, $wgLang->getDir() );
 
 		return wfExpandUrl( $iconUrl, PROTO_CANONICAL );
 	}
diff --git a/includes/formatters/BasicFormatter.php b/includes/formatters/BasicFormatter.php
index d973acbaa..9b2755b4b 100644
--- a/includes/formatters/BasicFormatter.php
+++ b/includes/formatters/BasicFormatter.php
@@ -181,27 +181,7 @@ class EchoBasicFormatter extends EchoNotificationFormatter {
 			return $this->formatNotificationTitle( $event, $user )->text();
 		}
 
-		$iconInfo = $wgEchoNotificationIcons[$this->icon];
-		if ( isset( $iconInfo['url'] ) && $iconInfo['url'] ) {
-			$iconUrl = $iconInfo['url'];
-		} else {
-			if ( !isset( $iconInfo['path'] ) || !$iconInfo['path'] ) {
-				// Fallback in case icon is not configured; mainly intended for 'site'
-				$iconInfo = $wgEchoNotificationIcons['placeholder'];
-			}
-			if ( is_array( $iconInfo['path'] ) ) {
-				$dir = $wgLang->getDir();
-				if ( isset( $iconInfo['path'][$dir] ) ) {
-					$path = $iconInfo['path'][$dir];
-				} else {
-					wfDebugLog( 'Echo', "The \"{$this->icon}\" icon does not have anything set for $dir direction." );
-					$path = $wgEchoNotificationIcons['placeholder']['path']; // Fallback
-				}
-			} else {
-				$path = $iconInfo['path'];
-			}
-			$iconUrl = "$wgExtensionAssetsPath/$path";
-		}
+		$iconUrl = $this->getIconUrl( $this->icon, $wgLang->getDir() );
 
 		// Assume html as the format for the notification
 		$output = Html::element(
diff --git a/includes/formatters/NotificationFormatter.php b/includes/formatters/NotificationFormatter.php
index 3bd0d89b5..0230b383e 100644
--- a/includes/formatters/NotificationFormatter.php
+++ b/includes/formatters/NotificationFormatter.php
@@ -119,6 +119,51 @@ abstract class EchoNotificationFormatter {
 		return $ts;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @todo this shouldn't be static
+	 * @param string $icon Name of icon as registered in BeforeCreateEchoEvent hook
+	 * @param string $dir either 'ltr' or 'rtl'
+	 * @return string
+	 */
+	public static function getIconUrl( $icon, $dir ) {
+		global $wgEchoNotificationIcons, $wgExtensionAssetsPath;
+		if ( !isset( $wgEchoNotificationIcons[$icon] ) ) {
+			throw new InvalidArgumentException( "The $icon icon is not registered" );
+		}
+
+		$iconInfo = $wgEchoNotificationIcons[$icon];
+		$needsPrefixing = true;
+
+		// Now we need to check it has a valid url/path
+		if ( isset( $iconInfo['url'] ) && $iconInfo['url'] ) {
+			$iconUrl = $iconInfo['url'];
+			$needsPrefixing = false;
+		} elseif ( isset( $iconInfo['path'] ) && $iconInfo['path'] ) {
+			$iconUrl = $iconInfo['path'];
+		} else {
+			// Fallback to hardcoded 'placeholder'. This is used if someone
+			// doesn't configure the 'site' icon for example.
+			$icon = 'placeholder';
+			$iconUrl = $wgEchoNotificationIcons['placeholder']['path'];
+		}
+
+		// Might be an array with different icons for ltr/rtl
+		if ( is_array( $iconUrl ) ) {
+			if ( !isset( $iconUrl[$dir] ) ) {
+				throw new UnexpectedValueException( "Icon type $icon doesn't have an icon for $dir directionality" );
+			}
+
+			$iconUrl = $iconUrl[$dir];
+		}
+
+		// And if it was a 'path', stick the assets path in front
+		if ( $needsPrefixing ) {
+			$iconUrl = "$wgExtensionAssetsPath/$iconUrl";
+		}
+
+		return $iconUrl;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Returns a revision snippet
 	 * @param EchoEvent $event The event that the notification is for.
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/formatters/NotificationFormatterTest.php b/tests/phpunit/formatters/NotificationFormatterTest.php
index dd0024148..26d86727a 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/formatters/NotificationFormatterTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/formatters/NotificationFormatterTest.php
@@ -247,4 +247,67 @@ class EchoNotificationFormatterTest extends MediaWikiTestCase {
 		}
 		return $event;
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @dataProvider provideGetIconUrl
+	 */
+	public function testGetIconUrl( $global, $icon, $dir, $expected, $exception = null ) {
+		$this->setMwGlobals( array(
+			'wgEchoNotificationIcons' => $global,
+			'wgExtensionAssetsPath' => 'http://example.org'
+		) );
+
+		if ( $exception ) {
+			$this->setExpectedException( $exception );
+		}
+
+		$url = EchoNotificationFormatter::getIconUrl( $icon, $dir );
+		$this->assertEquals( $expected, $url );
+	}
+
+	public static function provideGetIconUrl() {
+		$standard = array(
+			'foo' => array(
+				'path' => 'foo.png',
+			),
+			'bar' => array(
+				'path' => array(
+					'ltr' => 'bar.png'
+				),
+			),
+			'baz' => array(
+				'path' => array(
+					'ltr' => 'baz-ltr.png',
+					'rtl' => 'baz-rtl.png',
+				),
+			),
+			'site' => array(
+				'url' => false,
+			),
+			'placeholder' => array(
+				'path' => 'placeholder.png',
+			),
+		);
+		$tests = array(
+			// Standard, no ltr/rtl
+			array( $standard, 'foo', 'ltr', 'http://example.org/foo.png' ),
+			array( $standard, 'foo', 'rtl', 'http://example.org/foo.png' ),
+			// Only ltr configured (bad!)
+			array( $standard, 'bar', 'ltr', 'http://example.org/bar.png' ),
+			array( $standard, 'bar', 'rtl', '', 'UnexpectedValueException' ),
+			// Different for ltr/rtl
+			array( $standard, 'baz', 'ltr', 'http://example.org/baz-ltr.png' ),
+			array( $standard, 'baz', 'rtl', 'http://example.org/baz-rtl.png' ),
+			// Not registered
+			array( $standard, 'invalid', 'ltr', '', 'InvalidArgumentException' ),
+			// No url set, fallback to placeholder
+			array( $standard, 'site', 'ltr', 'http://example.org/placeholder.png' ),
+		);
+
+		// Set the 'url', and it doesn't fallback anymore
+		$standard['site']['url'] = 'http://example.com/site.png';
+		$tests[] = array( $standard, 'site', 'ltr', 'http://example.com/site.png' );
+
+		return $tests;
+	}
 }