diff --git a/helpers.lua b/helpers.lua
index 223c5f1..93a701b 100644
--- a/helpers.lua
+++ b/helpers.lua
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ local string = {
 
 
 -- Helpers: provides helper functions for vicious widgets
-module("vicious.helpers")
+-- vicious.helpers
+local helpers = {}
 
 
 -- {{{ Variable definitions
@@ -32,14 +33,14 @@ local scroller = {}
 
 -- {{{ Helper functions
 -- {{{ Loader of vicious modules
-function wrequire(table,  key)
+function helpers.wrequire(table,  key)
     local module = rawget(table,  key)
     return module or require(table._NAME .. "." .. key)
 end
 -- }}}
 
 -- {{{ Expose path as a Lua table
-function pathtotable(dir)
+function helpers.pathtotable(dir)
     return setmetatable({ _path = dir },
         { __index = function(table, index)
             local path = table._path .. '/' .. index
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ end
 -- }}}
 
 -- {{{ Format a string with args
-function format(format, args)
+function helpers.format(format, args)
     for var, val in pairs(args) do
         format = format:gsub("$" .. (tonumber(var) and var or
             var:gsub("[-+?*]", function(i) return "%"..i end)),
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ end
 -- }}}
 
 -- {{{ Format units to one decimal point
-function uformat(array, key, value, unit)
+function helpers.uformat(array, key, value, unit)
     for u, v in pairs(unit) do
         array["{"..key.."_"..u.."}"] = string.format("%.1f", value/v)
     end
@@ -83,7 +84,7 @@ end
 -- }}}
 
 -- {{{ Escape a string
-function escape(text)
+function helpers.escape(text)
     local xml_entities = {
         ["\""] = """,
         ["&"]  = "&",
@@ -97,7 +98,7 @@ end
 -- }}}
 
 -- {{{ Capitalize a string
-function capitalize(text)
+function helpers.capitalize(text)
     return text and text:gsub("([%w])([%w]*)", function(c, s)
         return string.upper(c) .. s
     end)
@@ -105,7 +106,7 @@ end
 -- }}}
 
 -- {{{ Truncate a string
-function truncate(text, maxlen)
+function helpers.truncate(text, maxlen)
     local txtlen = text:len()
 
     if txtlen > maxlen then
@@ -117,7 +118,7 @@ end
 -- }}}
 
 -- {{{ Scroll through a string
-function scroll(text, maxlen, widget)
+function helpers.scroll(text, maxlen, widget)
     if not scroller[widget] then
         scroller[widget] = { i = 1, d = true }
     end
@@ -146,4 +147,7 @@ function scroll(text, maxlen, widget)
     return text
 end
 -- }}}
+
+return helpers
+
 -- }}}
diff --git a/init.lua b/init.lua
index a7fdac0..fa57ea7 100644
--- a/init.lua
+++ b/init.lua
@@ -16,13 +16,12 @@ local table = {
     insert  = table.insert,
     remove  = table.remove
 }
-require("vicious.helpers")
-require("vicious.widgets")
---require("vicious.contrib")
+
+local helpers = require("vicious.helpers")
 
 -- Vicious: widgets for the awesome window manager
-module("vicious")
-
+local vicious = {}
+vicious.widgets = require("vicious.widgets")
 
 -- Initialize tables
 local timers       = {}
@@ -140,7 +139,7 @@ end
 
 -- {{{ Global functions
 -- {{{ Register a widget
-function register(widget, wtype, format, timer, warg)
+function vicious.register(widget, wtype, format, timer, warg)
     local widget = widget
     local reg = {
         -- Set properties
@@ -170,12 +169,12 @@ end
 -- }}}
 
 -- {{{ Unregister a widget
-function unregister(widget, keep, reg)
+function vicious.unregister(widget, keep, reg)
     if reg == nil then
         for w, i in pairs(registered) do
             if w == widget then
                 for _, v in pairs(i) do
-                    reg = unregister(w, keep, v)
+                    reg = vicious.unregister(w, keep, v)
                 end
             end
         end
@@ -206,7 +205,7 @@ end
 -- }}}
 
 -- {{{ Enable caching of a widget type
-function cache(wtype)
+function vicious.cache(wtype)
     if wtype ~= nil then
         if widget_cache[wtype] == nil then
             widget_cache[wtype] = {}
@@ -216,7 +215,7 @@ end
 -- }}}
 
 -- {{{ Force update of widgets
-function force(wtable)
+function vicious.force(wtable)
     if type(wtable) == "table" then
         for _, w in pairs(wtable) do
             update(w, nil, true)
@@ -226,17 +225,17 @@ end
 -- }}}
 
 -- {{{ Suspend all widgets
-function suspend()
+function vicious.suspend()
     for w, i in pairs(registered) do
         for _, v in pairs(i) do
-            unregister(w, true, v)
+            vicious.unregister(w, true, v)
         end
     end
 end
 -- }}}
 
 -- {{{ Activate a widget
-function activate(widget)
+function vicious.activate(widget)
     for w, i in pairs(registered) do
         if widget == nil or w == widget then
             for _, v in pairs(i) do
@@ -246,4 +245,7 @@ function activate(widget)
     end
 end
 -- }}}
+
+return vicious
+
 -- }}}