diff --git a/lib/awful/util.lua.in b/lib/awful/util.lua.in
index 3b15ebcc..fb813d65 100644
--- a/lib/awful/util.lua.in
+++ b/lib/awful/util.lua.in
@@ -174,6 +174,24 @@ function getdir(d)
     end
 end
 
+--- Search for an icon and return the full path.
+-- It searches for the icon path under the directories given w/the right ext
+-- @param iconname The name of the icon to search for.
+-- @param exts Table of image extensions allowed, otherwise { 'png', gif' }
+-- @param dirs Table of dirs to search, otherwise { '/usr/share/pixmaps/' }
+function geticonpath(iconname, exts, dirs)
+    exts = exts or { 'png', 'gif' }
+    dirs = dirs or { '/usr/share/pixmaps/' }
+    for _, d in pairs(dirs) do
+        for _, e in pairs(exts) do
+            local icon = d .. iconname .. '.' .. e
+            if file_readable(icon) then
+                return icon
+            end 
+        end 
+    end 
+end
+
 --- Check if file exists and is readable.
 -- @param filename The file path
 -- @return True if file exists and readable.
diff --git a/lib/naughty.lua.in b/lib/naughty.lua.in
index 62f03280..f7e52717 100644
--- a/lib/naughty.lua.in
+++ b/lib/naughty.lua.in
@@ -243,20 +243,6 @@ local function getById(id)
     end
 end
 
--- Search for an icon in specified directories with a specified format
--- @param icon Name of the icon
--- @return full path of the icon, or nil of no icon was found
-local function getIcon(name)
-    for d, dir in pairs(config.icon_dirs) do
-        for f, format in pairs(config.icon_formats) do
-            local icon = dir .. name .. "." .. format
-            if util.file_readable(icon) then
-                return icon
-            end
-        end
-    end
-end
-
 --- Create notification. args is a dictionary of (optional) arguments.
 -- @param text Text of the notification. Default: ''
 -- @param title Title of the notification. Default: nil
@@ -397,7 +383,7 @@ function notify(args)
     if icon then
         -- try to guess icon if the provided one is non-existent/readable
         if type(icon) == "string" and not util.file_readable(icon) then
-            icon = getIcon(icon)
+            icon = util.geticonpath(icon, config.icon_formats, config.icon_dirs)
         end
 
         -- if we have an icon, use it