diff --git a/accessible/src/atk/nsHTMLLinkAccessibleWrap.cpp b/accessible/src/atk/nsHTMLLinkAccessibleWrap.cpp
index c4ff646291c9..0a94cc7c4807 100644
--- a/accessible/src/atk/nsHTMLLinkAccessibleWrap.cpp
+++ b/accessible/src/atk/nsHTMLLinkAccessibleWrap.cpp
@@ -89,10 +89,7 @@ NS_IMETHODIMP nsHTMLLinkAccessibleWrap::GetURI(PRInt32 i, nsIURI **aURI)
 
   nsCOMPtr<nsILink> link(do_QueryInterface(mLinkContent));
   if (link) {
-    nsXPIDLCString hrefValue;
-    if (NS_SUCCEEDED(link->GetHrefUTF8(getter_Copies(hrefValue)))) {
-      return NS_NewURI(aURI, hrefValue, nsnull, nsnull);
-    }
+    return link->GetHrefURI(aURI);
   }
 
   return NS_ERROR_FAILURE;
diff --git a/content/base/src/nsGenericElement.cpp b/content/base/src/nsGenericElement.cpp
index 76c40b6e958e..7f0f88582f05 100644
--- a/content/base/src/nsGenericElement.cpp
+++ b/content/base/src/nsGenericElement.cpp
@@ -3115,29 +3115,16 @@ nsGenericElement::LeaveLink(nsIPresContext* aPresContext)
 nsresult
 nsGenericElement::TriggerLink(nsIPresContext* aPresContext,
                               nsLinkVerb aVerb,
-                              nsIURI* aBaseURL,
-                              const nsAString& aURLSpec,
+                              nsIURI* aOriginURI,
+                              nsIURI* aLinkURI,
                               const nsAFlatString& aTargetSpec,
                               PRBool aClick)
 {
+  NS_PRECONDITION(aLinkURI, "No link URI");
   nsCOMPtr<nsILinkHandler> handler;
   nsresult rv = aPresContext->GetLinkHandler(getter_AddRefs(handler));
   if (NS_FAILED(rv) || !handler) return rv;
 
-  // Resolve url to an absolute url
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> targetURI;
-  nsCAutoString docCharset;
-  if (mDocument &&
-      NS_SUCCEEDED(mDocument->GetDocumentCharacterSet(docCharset))) {
-    rv = NS_NewURI(getter_AddRefs(targetURI), aURLSpec,
-                   docCharset.get(), aBaseURL);
-  } else {
-    rv = NS_NewURI(getter_AddRefs(targetURI), aURLSpec, nsnull, aBaseURL);
-  }
-
-  NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(rv, rv);
-
-  // Now pass on absolute url to the click handler
   if (aClick) {
     nsresult proceed = NS_OK;
     // Check that this page is allowed to load this URI.
@@ -3145,17 +3132,15 @@ nsGenericElement::TriggerLink(nsIPresContext* aPresContext,
              do_GetService(NS_SCRIPTSECURITYMANAGER_CONTRACTID, &rv);
     if (NS_SUCCEEDED(rv))
       proceed =
-        securityManager->CheckLoadURI(aBaseURL, targetURI,
+        securityManager->CheckLoadURI(aOriginURI, aLinkURI,
                                       nsIScriptSecurityManager::STANDARD);
 
     // Only pass off the click event if the script security manager
     // says it's ok.
     if (NS_SUCCEEDED(proceed))
-      handler->OnLinkClick(this, aVerb, targetURI,
-                           aTargetSpec.get());
+      handler->OnLinkClick(this, aVerb, aLinkURI, aTargetSpec.get());
   } else {
-    handler->OnOverLink(this, targetURI,
-                        aTargetSpec.get());
+    handler->OnOverLink(this, aLinkURI, aTargetSpec.get());
   }
   return rv;
 }
diff --git a/content/base/src/nsGenericElement.h b/content/base/src/nsGenericElement.h
index b81d1f8bb55b..5c417c1bbab8 100644
--- a/content/base/src/nsGenericElement.h
+++ b/content/base/src/nsGenericElement.h
@@ -535,19 +535,22 @@ public:
                                   const nsAString& aValue);
 
   /**
-   * Load a link, putting together the proper URL from the pieces given.
+   * Trigger a link with uri aLinkURI.  If aClick is false, this triggers a
+   * mouseover on the link, otherwise it triggers a load, after doing a
+   * security check.
    * @param aPresContext the pres context.
    * @param aVerb how the link will be loaded (replace page, new window, etc.)
-   * @param aBaseURL the base URL to start with (content.baseURL, may be null)
-   * @param aURLSpec the URL of the link (may be relative)
-   * @param aTargetSpec the target (like target=, may be null)
+   * @param aOriginURI the URI the request originates from.  Used as the origin
+   *        uri for a CheckLoadURI call. 
+   * @param aLinkURI the URI of the link
+   * @param aTargetSpec the target (like target=, may be empty)
    * @param aClick whether this was a click or not (if false, it assumes you
    *        just hovered over the link)
    */
   nsresult TriggerLink(nsIPresContext* aPresContext,
                        nsLinkVerb aVerb,
-                       nsIURI* aBaseURL,
-                       const nsAString& aURLSpec,
+                       nsIURI* aOriginURI,
+                       nsIURI* aLinkURI,
                        const nsAFlatString& aTargetSpec,
                        PRBool aClick);
   /**
diff --git a/content/base/src/nsStyleLinkElement.cpp b/content/base/src/nsStyleLinkElement.cpp
index f2b88b308842..4026fc1c7ca5 100644
--- a/content/base/src/nsStyleLinkElement.cpp
+++ b/content/base/src/nsStyleLinkElement.cpp
@@ -207,19 +207,20 @@ nsStyleLinkElement::UpdateStyleSheet(nsIDocument *aOldDocument,
     return NS_OK;
   }
 
-  nsAutoString url;
+  nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> uri;
   PRBool isInline;
+  GetStyleSheetURL(&isInline, getter_AddRefs(uri));
 
-  GetStyleSheetURL(&isInline, url);
+  if (mStyleSheet && !isInline && uri) {
+    nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> oldURI;
 
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMStyleSheet> styleSheet(do_QueryInterface(mStyleSheet));
-
-  if (styleSheet && !isInline) {
-    nsAutoString oldHref;
-
-    styleSheet->GetHref(oldHref);
-    if (oldHref.Equals(url)) {
-      return NS_OK; // We already loaded this stylesheet
+    mStyleSheet->GetURL(*getter_AddRefs(oldURI));
+    if (oldURI) {
+      PRBool equal;
+      nsresult rv = oldURI->Equals(uri, &equal);
+      if (NS_SUCCEEDED(rv) && equal) {
+        return NS_OK; // We already loaded this stylesheet
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -228,7 +229,7 @@ nsStyleLinkElement::UpdateStyleSheet(nsIDocument *aOldDocument,
     mStyleSheet = nsnull;
   }
 
-  if (url.IsEmpty() && !isInline) {
+  if (!uri && !isInline) {
     return NS_OK; // If href is empty and this is not inline style then just bail
   }
 
@@ -241,17 +242,6 @@ nsStyleLinkElement::UpdateStyleSheet(nsIDocument *aOldDocument,
     return NS_OK;
   }
 
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> uri;
-  nsresult rv = NS_OK;
-
-  if (!isInline) {
-    rv = NS_NewURI(getter_AddRefs(uri), url);
-
-    if (NS_FAILED(rv)) {
-      return NS_OK; // The URL is bad, move along, don't propagate the error (for now)
-    }
-  }
-
   nsCOMPtr<nsIHTMLContentContainer> htmlContainer(do_QueryInterface(doc));
   nsCOMPtr<nsICSSLoader> loader;
 
@@ -286,6 +276,7 @@ nsStyleLinkElement::UpdateStyleSheet(nsIDocument *aOldDocument,
   }
 
   PRBool doneLoading;
+  nsresult rv = NS_OK;
   if (isInline) {
     PRInt32 count;
     thisContent->ChildCount(count);
diff --git a/content/base/src/nsStyleLinkElement.h b/content/base/src/nsStyleLinkElement.h
index b22addc9a25c..325c9ca8dfd3 100644
--- a/content/base/src/nsStyleLinkElement.h
+++ b/content/base/src/nsStyleLinkElement.h
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ public:
 
 protected:
   virtual void GetStyleSheetURL(PRBool* aIsInline,
-                                nsAString& aUrl) = 0;
+                                nsIURI** aURI) = 0;
   virtual void GetStyleSheetInfo(nsAString& aTitle,
                                  nsAString& aType,
                                  nsAString& aMedia,
diff --git a/content/html/content/public/nsILink.h b/content/html/content/public/nsILink.h
index eaebb9ac45d8..de6b0e527b51 100644
--- a/content/html/content/public/nsILink.h
+++ b/content/html/content/public/nsILink.h
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@
 #include "nsISupports.h"
 #include "nsILinkHandler.h" // definition of nsLinkState
 
+class nsIURI;
+
 // IID for the nsILink interface
 #define NS_ILINK_IID    \
 { 0xa904ac22, 0x28fa, 0x4812,  \
@@ -76,18 +78,14 @@ public:
   NS_IMETHOD SetLinkState(nsLinkState aState) = 0;
 
   /**
-    * Get a pointer to the UTF-8 encoded canonical URL (i.e., fully
-    * resolved to the base URL) that this link element points to.  The
-    * buffer returned has been allocated for and should be deleted by
-    * the caller.
+    * Get a pointer to the fully href URI (fully resolved and canonicalized,
+    * since it's an nsIURI object).
     *
-    * @param aBuf [out] A pointer to be filled in with a pointer to a
-    *             null-terminated string containing the canonical URL.
-    *             If the element has no HREF attribute, it is set to
-    *             nsnull.
-    * @return NS_OK if the out pointer is filled in
+    * @param aURI [out] A pointer to be filled in with a pointer to the URI
+    *             If the element has no HREF attribute, it is set to nsnull.
+    * @return NS_OK if the out pointer is filled in (possibly with nsnull)
     */
-  NS_IMETHOD GetHrefUTF8(char** aBuf) = 0;
+  NS_IMETHOD GetHrefURI(nsIURI** aURI) = 0;
 
 };
 
diff --git a/content/html/content/src/nsGenericHTMLElement.cpp b/content/html/content/src/nsGenericHTMLElement.cpp
index 54ada59bbf88..25e0a4f031a3 100644
--- a/content/html/content/src/nsGenericHTMLElement.cpp
+++ b/content/html/content/src/nsGenericHTMLElement.cpp
@@ -1467,17 +1467,12 @@ nsGenericHTMLElement::HandleDOMEventForAnchors(nsIPresContext* aPresContext,
     // nsILink interface to get a canonified URL that has been
     // correctly escaped and URL-encoded for the document's charset.
 
-    nsXPIDLCString hrefCStr;
-    GetHrefUTF8ForAnchors(getter_Copies(hrefCStr));
+    nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> hrefURI;
+    GetHrefURIForAnchors(getter_AddRefs(hrefURI));
 
     // Only bother to handle the mouse event if there was an href
     // specified.
-    if (hrefCStr) {
-      NS_ConvertUTF8toUCS2 href(hrefCStr);
-      // Strip off any unneeded CF/LF (for Bug 52119)
-      // It can't be done in the parser because of Bug 15204
-      href.StripChars("\r\n");
-
+    if (hrefURI) {
       switch (aEvent->message) {
       case NS_MOUSE_LEFT_BUTTON_DOWN:
         {
@@ -1527,7 +1522,7 @@ nsGenericHTMLElement::HandleDOMEventForAnchors(nsIPresContext* aPresContext,
             break;  // let the click go through so we can handle it in JS/XUL
           }
 
-          ret = TriggerLink(aPresContext, eLinkVerb_Replace, baseURL, href,
+          ret = TriggerLink(aPresContext, eLinkVerb_Replace, baseURL, hrefURI,
                             target, PR_TRUE);
 
           *aEventStatus = nsEventStatus_eConsumeDoDefault;
@@ -1577,8 +1572,8 @@ nsGenericHTMLElement::HandleDOMEventForAnchors(nsIPresContext* aPresContext,
         if (target.IsEmpty()) {
           GetBaseTarget(target);
         }
-        ret = TriggerLink(aPresContext, eLinkVerb_Replace,
-                          baseURL, href, target, PR_FALSE);
+        ret = TriggerLink(aPresContext, eLinkVerb_Replace, baseURL,
+                          hrefURI, target, PR_FALSE);
       }
       break;
 
@@ -1598,7 +1593,7 @@ nsGenericHTMLElement::HandleDOMEventForAnchors(nsIPresContext* aPresContext,
 }
 
 nsresult
-nsGenericHTMLElement::GetHrefUTF8ForAnchors(char** aHref)
+nsGenericHTMLElement::GetHrefURIForAnchors(nsIURI** aURI)
 {
   // This is used by the three nsILink implementations and
   // nsHTMLStyleElement.
@@ -1608,29 +1603,21 @@ nsGenericHTMLElement::GetHrefUTF8ForAnchors(char** aHref)
 
   if (NS_CONTENT_ATTR_HAS_VALUE ==
       GetAttr(kNameSpaceID_None, nsHTMLAtoms::href, relURLSpec)) {
-    // Clean up any leading or trailing whitespace
-    relURLSpec.Trim(" \t\n\r");
-
     // Get base URL.
     nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> baseURL;
     GetBaseURL(getter_AddRefs(baseURL));
 
-    if (baseURL) {
-      // Get absolute URL.
-      nsCAutoString buf;
-      NS_MakeAbsoluteURIWithCharset(buf, relURLSpec, mDocument, baseURL,
-                                    nsHTMLUtils::IOService,
-                                    nsHTMLUtils::CharsetMgr);
-      *aHref = ToNewCString(buf);
-    }
-    else {
-      // Absolute URL is same as relative URL.
-      *aHref = ToNewUTF8String(relURLSpec);
+    // Get absolute URL.
+    nsCAutoString buf;
+    nsresult rv = NS_NewURIWithDocumentCharset(aURI, relURLSpec, mDocument,
+                                               baseURL);
+    if (NS_FAILED(rv)) {
+      *aURI = nsnull;
     }
   }
   else {
     // Absolute URL is null to say we have no HREF.
-    *aHref = nsnull;
+    *aURI = nsnull;
   }
 
   return NS_OK;
diff --git a/content/html/content/src/nsGenericHTMLElement.h b/content/html/content/src/nsGenericHTMLElement.h
index cb63d011787a..d44403616e72 100644
--- a/content/html/content/src/nsGenericHTMLElement.h
+++ b/content/html/content/src/nsGenericHTMLElement.h
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ public:
 
   // Used by A, AREA, LINK, and STYLE.
   // Callers must hold a reference to nsHTMLUtils's global reference count.
-  nsresult GetHrefUTF8ForAnchors(char** aHref);
+  nsresult GetHrefURIForAnchors(nsIURI** aURI);
 
   // Implementation for nsIHTMLContent
   NS_IMETHOD SetHTMLAttribute(nsIAtom* aAttribute, const nsHTMLValue& aValue,
diff --git a/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLAnchorElement.cpp b/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLAnchorElement.cpp
index ce213285f815..187df3944dc3 100644
--- a/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLAnchorElement.cpp
+++ b/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLAnchorElement.cpp
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ public:
   // nsILink
   NS_IMETHOD GetLinkState(nsLinkState &aState);
   NS_IMETHOD SetLinkState(nsLinkState aState);
-  NS_IMETHOD GetHrefUTF8(char** aBuf);
+  NS_IMETHOD GetHrefURI(nsIURI** aURI);
 
   NS_IMETHOD SetDocument(nsIDocument* aDocument, PRBool aDeep,
                          PRBool aCompileEventHandlers);
@@ -164,12 +164,12 @@ NS_NewHTMLAnchorElement(nsIHTMLContent** aInstancePtrResult,
 
 nsHTMLAnchorElement::nsHTMLAnchorElement() : mLinkState(eLinkState_Unknown)
 {
-  nsHTMLUtils::AddRef(); // for GetHrefUTF8
+  nsHTMLUtils::AddRef(); // for GetHrefURI
 }
 
 nsHTMLAnchorElement::~nsHTMLAnchorElement()
 {
-  nsHTMLUtils::Release(); // for GetHrefUTF8
+  nsHTMLUtils::Release(); // for GetHrefURI
 }
 
 
@@ -357,13 +357,17 @@ nsHTMLAnchorElement::HandleDOMEvent(nsIPresContext* aPresContext,
 NS_IMETHODIMP
 nsHTMLAnchorElement::GetHref(nsAString& aValue)
 {
-  nsXPIDLCString buf;
-  nsresult rv = GetHrefUTF8(getter_Copies(buf));
-  if (NS_FAILED(rv)) return rv;
+  nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> uri;
+  nsresult rv = GetHrefURI(getter_AddRefs(uri));
+  if (NS_FAILED(rv))
+    return rv;
 
-  CopyUTF8toUTF16(buf, aValue);
+  nsCAutoString spec;
+  if (uri) {
+    uri->GetSpec(spec);
+  }
+  CopyUTF8toUTF16(spec, aValue);
 
-  // NS_IMPL_STRING_ATTR does nothing where we have (buf == null)
   return NS_OK;
 }
 
@@ -660,9 +664,9 @@ nsHTMLAnchorElement::SetLinkState(nsLinkState aState)
 }
 
 NS_IMETHODIMP
-nsHTMLAnchorElement::GetHrefUTF8(char** aBuf)
+nsHTMLAnchorElement::GetHrefURI(nsIURI** aURI)
 {
-  return GetHrefUTF8ForAnchors(aBuf);
+  return GetHrefURIForAnchors(aURI);
 }
 
 NS_IMETHODIMP
diff --git a/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLAreaElement.cpp b/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLAreaElement.cpp
index fd3dfd812147..8e6de3e8a333 100644
--- a/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLAreaElement.cpp
+++ b/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLAreaElement.cpp
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ public:
   // nsILink
   NS_IMETHOD GetLinkState(nsLinkState &aState);
   NS_IMETHOD SetLinkState(nsLinkState aState);
-  NS_IMETHOD GetHrefUTF8(char** aBuf);
+  NS_IMETHOD GetHrefURI(nsIURI** aURI);
 
   NS_IMETHOD StringToAttribute(nsIAtom* aAttribute,
                                const nsAString& aValue,
@@ -140,12 +140,12 @@ NS_NewHTMLAreaElement(nsIHTMLContent** aInstancePtrResult,
 nsHTMLAreaElement::nsHTMLAreaElement()
   : mLinkState(eLinkState_Unknown)
 {
-  nsHTMLUtils::AddRef(); // for GetHrefUTF8
+  nsHTMLUtils::AddRef(); // for GetHrefURI
 }
 
 nsHTMLAreaElement::~nsHTMLAreaElement()
 {
-  nsHTMLUtils::Release(); // for GetHrefUTF8
+  nsHTMLUtils::Release(); // for GetHrefURI
 }
 
 NS_IMPL_ADDREF_INHERITED(nsHTMLAreaElement, nsGenericElement) 
@@ -273,14 +273,14 @@ nsHTMLAreaElement::RemoveFocus(nsIPresContext* aPresContext)
 NS_IMETHODIMP
 nsHTMLAreaElement::GetHref(nsAString& aValue)
 {
-  char *buf;
-  nsresult rv = GetHrefUTF8(&buf);
+  nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> uri;
+  nsresult rv = GetHrefURI(getter_AddRefs(uri));
   if (NS_FAILED(rv)) return rv;
-  if (buf) {
-    aValue.Assign(NS_ConvertASCIItoUCS2(buf));
-    nsCRT::free(buf);
+  if (uri) {
+    nsCAutoString spec;
+    uri->GetSpec(spec);
+    CopyUTF8toUTF16(spec, aValue);
   }
-  // NS_IMPL_STRING_ATTR does nothing where we have (buf == null)
   return NS_OK;
 }
 
@@ -571,7 +571,7 @@ nsHTMLAreaElement::SetLinkState(nsLinkState aState)
 }
 
 NS_IMETHODIMP
-nsHTMLAreaElement::GetHrefUTF8(char** aBuf)
+nsHTMLAreaElement::GetHrefURI(nsIURI** aURI)
 {
-  return GetHrefUTF8ForAnchors(aBuf);
+  return GetHrefURIForAnchors(aURI);
 }
diff --git a/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLLinkElement.cpp b/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLLinkElement.cpp
index 4730df7f76e0..961428ec3ed7 100644
--- a/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLLinkElement.cpp
+++ b/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLLinkElement.cpp
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ public:
   // nsILink
   NS_IMETHOD    GetLinkState(nsLinkState &aState);
   NS_IMETHOD    SetLinkState(nsLinkState aState);
-  NS_IMETHOD    GetHrefUTF8(char** aBuf);
+  NS_IMETHOD    GetHrefURI(nsIURI** aURI);
 
   NS_IMETHOD SetDocument(nsIDocument* aDocument, PRBool aDeep,
                          PRBool aCompileEventHandlers) {
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ public:
 
 protected:
   virtual void GetStyleSheetURL(PRBool* aIsInline,
-                                nsAString& aUrl);
+                                nsIURI** aURI);
   virtual void GetStyleSheetInfo(nsAString& aTitle,
                                  nsAString& aType,
                                  nsAString& aMedia,
@@ -226,12 +226,12 @@ NS_NewHTMLLinkElement(nsIHTMLContent** aInstancePtrResult,
 nsHTMLLinkElement::nsHTMLLinkElement()
   : mLinkState(eLinkState_Unknown)
 {
-  nsHTMLUtils::AddRef(); // for GetHrefUTF8
+  nsHTMLUtils::AddRef(); // for GetHrefURI
 }
 
 nsHTMLLinkElement::~nsHTMLLinkElement()
 {
-  nsHTMLUtils::Release(); // for GetHrefUTF8
+  nsHTMLUtils::Release(); // for GetHrefURI
 }
 
 
@@ -320,16 +320,15 @@ NS_IMPL_STRING_ATTR(nsHTMLLinkElement, Type, type)
 NS_IMETHODIMP
 nsHTMLLinkElement::GetHref(nsAString& aValue)
 {
-  char *buf;
-  nsresult rv = GetHrefUTF8(&buf);
+  nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> uri;
+  nsresult rv = GetHrefURI(getter_AddRefs(uri));
   if (NS_FAILED(rv)) return rv;
-  if (buf) {
-    aValue.Assign(NS_ConvertUTF8toUCS2(buf));
-    nsCRT::free(buf);
+  if (uri) {
+    nsCAutoString spec;
+    uri->GetSpec(spec);
+    CopyUTF8toUTF16(spec, aValue);
   }
 
-  // NS_IMPL_STRING_ATTR does nothing where we have (buf == null)
-
   return NS_OK;
 }
 
@@ -375,17 +374,17 @@ nsHTMLLinkElement::SetLinkState(nsLinkState aState)
 }
 
 NS_IMETHODIMP
-nsHTMLLinkElement::GetHrefUTF8(char** aBuf)
+nsHTMLLinkElement::GetHrefURI(nsIURI** aURI)
 {
-  return GetHrefUTF8ForAnchors(aBuf);
+  return GetHrefURIForAnchors(aURI);
 }
 
 void
 nsHTMLLinkElement::GetStyleSheetURL(PRBool* aIsInline,
-                                    nsAString& aUrl)
+                                    nsIURI** aURI)
 {
   *aIsInline = PR_FALSE;
-  GetHref(aUrl);
+  GetHrefURIForAnchors(aURI);
   return;
 }
 
diff --git a/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLStyleElement.cpp b/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLStyleElement.cpp
index f00368dbcf54..2c3e183d8800 100644
--- a/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLStyleElement.cpp
+++ b/content/html/content/src/nsHTMLStyleElement.cpp
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ public:
 
 protected:
   void GetStyleSheetURL(PRBool* aIsInline,
-                        nsAString& aUrl);
+                        nsIURI** aURI);
   void GetStyleSheetInfo(nsAString& aTitle,
                          nsAString& aType,
                          nsAString& aMedia,
@@ -204,12 +204,12 @@ NS_NewHTMLStyleElement(nsIHTMLContent** aInstancePtrResult,
 
 nsHTMLStyleElement::nsHTMLStyleElement()
 {
-  nsHTMLUtils::AddRef(); // for GetHrefUTF8ForAnchors
+  nsHTMLUtils::AddRef(); // for GetHrefURIForAnchors
 }
 
 nsHTMLStyleElement::~nsHTMLStyleElement()
 {
-  nsHTMLUtils::Release(); // for GetHrefUTF8ForAnchors
+  nsHTMLUtils::Release(); // for GetHrefURIForAnchors
 }
 
 
@@ -314,9 +314,9 @@ nsHTMLStyleElement::SetInnerHTML(const nsAString& aInnerHTML)
 
 void
 nsHTMLStyleElement::GetStyleSheetURL(PRBool* aIsInline,
-                                     nsAString& aUrl)
+                                     nsIURI** aURI)
 {
-  aUrl.Truncate();
+  *aURI = nsnull;
   *aIsInline = !HasAttr(kNameSpaceID_None, nsHTMLAtoms::src);
   if (*aIsInline) {
     return;
@@ -328,12 +328,7 @@ nsHTMLStyleElement::GetStyleSheetURL(PRBool* aIsInline,
     return;
   }
 
-  char *buf;
-  GetHrefUTF8ForAnchors(&buf);
-  if (buf) {
-    aUrl.Assign(NS_ConvertUTF8toUCS2(buf));
-    nsCRT::free(buf);
-  }
+  GetHrefURIForAnchors(aURI);
   return;
 }
 
diff --git a/content/html/style/src/nsStyleUtil.cpp b/content/html/style/src/nsStyleUtil.cpp
index 903db3e8750b..7def156cbfc4 100644
--- a/content/html/style/src/nsStyleUtil.cpp
+++ b/content/html/style/src/nsStyleUtil.cpp
@@ -595,15 +595,14 @@ PRBool nsStyleUtil::IsHTMLLink(nsIContent *aContent, nsIAtom *aTag, nsIPresConte
         // if there is no link, then this anchor is not really a linkpseudo.
         // bug=23209
 
-        nsXPIDLCString href;
-        link->GetHrefUTF8(getter_Copies(href));
+        nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> hrefURI;
+        link->GetHrefURI(getter_AddRefs(hrefURI));
 
-        if (href) {
-          nsILinkHandler *linkHandler = nsnull;
-          aPresContext->GetLinkHandler(&linkHandler);
+        if (hrefURI) {
+          nsCOMPtr<nsILinkHandler> linkHandler;
+          aPresContext->GetLinkHandler(getter_AddRefs(linkHandler));
           if (linkHandler) {
-            linkHandler->GetLinkState(href, linkState);
-            NS_RELEASE(linkHandler);
+            linkHandler->GetLinkState(hrefURI, linkState);
           }
           else {
             // no link handler?  then all links are unvisited
@@ -665,16 +664,14 @@ PRBool nsStyleUtil::IsSimpleXlink(nsIContent *aContent, nsIPresContext *aPresCon
           }
         }
 
-        // convert here, rather than twice in NS_MakeAbsoluteURI and
-        // back again
-        nsCAutoString absHREF;
-        (void) NS_MakeAbsoluteURI(absHREF, NS_ConvertUCS2toUTF8(val), baseURI);
+        nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> absURI;
+        // XXX should we make sure to get the right charset off the document?
+        (void) NS_NewURI(getter_AddRefs(absURI), val, nsnull, baseURI);
 
-        nsILinkHandler *linkHandler = nsnull;
-        aPresContext->GetLinkHandler(&linkHandler);
+        nsCOMPtr<nsILinkHandler> linkHandler;
+        aPresContext->GetLinkHandler(getter_AddRefs(linkHandler));
         if (linkHandler) {
-          linkHandler->GetLinkState(absHREF, *aState);
-          NS_RELEASE(linkHandler);
+          linkHandler->GetLinkState(absURI, *aState);
         }
         else {
           // no link handler?  then all links are unvisited
diff --git a/content/shared/public/nsHTMLUtils.h b/content/shared/public/nsHTMLUtils.h
index 301a63c0bf62..74896de048b1 100644
--- a/content/shared/public/nsHTMLUtils.h
+++ b/content/shared/public/nsHTMLUtils.h
@@ -53,19 +53,14 @@ class nsString;
 class nsACString;
 
 /**
- * A version of NS_MakeAbsoluteURI that's savvy to document character
- * set encodings, and will recode a relative spec in the specified
- * charset and URL-escape it before resolving.
- *
- * XXXdarin this should really return a nsIURI
+ * A version of NS_NewURI that's savvy to document character
+ * set encodings
  */
 nsresult
-NS_MakeAbsoluteURIWithCharset(nsACString &aResult,
-                              const nsString& aSpec,
-                              nsIDocument* aDocument,
-                              nsIURI* aBaseURI = nsnull,
-                              nsIIOService* aIOService = nsnull,
-                              nsICharsetConverterManager* aConvMgr = nsnull);
+NS_NewURIWithDocumentCharset(nsIURI** aResult,
+                             const nsString& aSpec,
+                             nsIDocument* aDocument,
+                             nsIURI* aBaseURI);
 
 
 class nsHTMLUtils {
diff --git a/content/shared/src/nsHTMLUtils.cpp b/content/shared/src/nsHTMLUtils.cpp
index 1227f56a801a..f2fb02de5329 100644
--- a/content/shared/src/nsHTMLUtils.cpp
+++ b/content/shared/src/nsHTMLUtils.cpp
@@ -58,49 +58,21 @@
 static NS_DEFINE_CID(kIOServiceCID, NS_IOSERVICE_CID);
 
 nsresult
-NS_MakeAbsoluteURIWithCharset(nsACString &aResult,
-                              const nsString& aSpec,
-                              nsIDocument* aDocument,
-                              nsIURI* aBaseURI,
-                              nsIIOService* aIOService,
-                              nsICharsetConverterManager* aConvMgr)
+NS_NewURIWithDocumentCharset(nsIURI** aResult,
+                             const nsString& aSpec,
+                             nsIDocument* aDocument,
+                             nsIURI* aBaseURI)
 {
-  // Initialize aResult in case of tragedy
-  aResult.Truncate();
-
-  // Sanity
-  NS_PRECONDITION(aBaseURI != nsnull, "no base URI");
-  if (! aBaseURI)
-    return NS_ERROR_FAILURE;
-
-  // This gets the relative spec after gyrating it through all the
-  // necessary encodings and escaping.
-
-  if (IsASCII(aSpec)) {
-    // If it's ASCII, then just copy the characters
-    return aBaseURI->Resolve(NS_LossyConvertUCS2toASCII(aSpec), aResult);
-  }
-
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> absURI;
-  nsresult rv;
-
-  nsCAutoString originCharset; // XXX why store charset as UCS2?
+  NS_PRECONDITION(aResult, "Null out param");
+  NS_PRECONDITION(aBaseURI, "Must have a base URI");
+  
+  nsCAutoString originCharset;
   if (aDocument && NS_FAILED(aDocument->GetDocumentCharacterSet(originCharset)))
     originCharset.Truncate();
 
-  // URI can't be encoded in UTF-16, UTF-16BE, UTF-16LE, UTF-32, UTF-32-LE,
-  // UTF-32LE, UTF-32BE (yet?). Truncate it and leave it to default (UTF-8)
-  if (originCharset[0] == 'U' &&
-      originCharset[1] == 'T' &&
-      originCharset[2] == 'F')
-    originCharset.Truncate();
-
-  rv = nsHTMLUtils::IOService->NewURI(NS_ConvertUCS2toUTF8(aSpec),
-                                      originCharset.get(),
-                                      aBaseURI, getter_AddRefs(absURI));
-  if (NS_FAILED(rv)) return rv; 
-
-  return absURI->GetSpec(aResult);
+  return nsHTMLUtils::IOService->NewURI(NS_ConvertUCS2toUTF8(aSpec),
+                                        originCharset.get(),
+                                        aBaseURI, aResult);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/content/xml/content/src/nsXMLElement.cpp b/content/xml/content/src/nsXMLElement.cpp
index 6e039d63d663..c970b8c31a64 100644
--- a/content/xml/content/src/nsXMLElement.cpp
+++ b/content/xml/content/src/nsXMLElement.cpp
@@ -40,8 +40,10 @@
 #include "nsXMLElement.h"
 #include "nsHTMLAtoms.h"
 #include "nsLayoutAtoms.h"
+#include "nsHTMLUtils.h"
 #include "nsIDocument.h"
 #include "nsIAtom.h"
+#include "nsNetUtil.h"
 #include "nsIEventListenerManager.h"
 #include "nsIDocShell.h"
 #include "nsIEventStateManager.h"
@@ -97,10 +99,12 @@ NS_NewXMLElement(nsIContent** aInstancePtrResult, nsINodeInfo *aNodeInfo)
 
 nsXMLElement::nsXMLElement() : mIsLink(PR_FALSE)
 {
+  nsHTMLUtils::AddRef();  // for NS_NewURIWithDocumentCharset
 }
 
 nsXMLElement::~nsXMLElement()
 {
+  nsHTMLUtils::Release();  // for NS_NewURIWithDocumentCharset
 }
 
 
@@ -143,17 +147,6 @@ NS_IMPL_ADDREF_INHERITED(nsXMLElement, nsGenericElement)
 NS_IMPL_RELEASE_INHERITED(nsXMLElement, nsGenericElement)
 
 
-static inline nsresult MakeURI(const nsACString &aSpec, nsIURI *aBase, nsIURI **aURI)
-{
-  nsresult rv;
-  static NS_DEFINE_CID(ioServCID,NS_IOSERVICE_CID);
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIIOService> service(do_GetService(ioServCID, &rv));
-  if (NS_FAILED(rv))
-    return rv;
-
-  return service->NewURI(aSpec,nsnull,aBase,aURI);
-}
-
 NS_IMETHODIMP
 nsXMLElement::GetXMLBaseURI(nsIURI **aURI)
 {
@@ -176,14 +169,12 @@ nsXMLElement::GetXMLBaseURI(nsIURI **aURI)
         // The complex looking if above is to make sure that we do not erroneously
         // think a value of "./this:that" would have a scheme of "./that"
 
-        NS_ConvertUCS2toUTF8 str(value);
-
-        rv = MakeURI(str, nsnull, aURI);
+        rv = NS_NewURIWithDocumentCharset(aURI, value, mDocument, nsnull);
         if (NS_FAILED(rv))
           break;
 
         if (!base.IsEmpty()) { // XXXdarin base is always empty
-          CopyUTF16toUTF8(base, str);
+          NS_ConvertUTF16toUTF8 str(base);
           nsCAutoString resolvedStr;
           rv = (*aURI)->Resolve(str, resolvedStr);
           if (NS_FAILED(rv)) break;
@@ -224,7 +215,7 @@ nsXMLElement::GetXMLBaseURI(nsIURI **aURI)
         *aURI = docBase.get();    
         NS_IF_ADDREF(*aURI);  // nsCOMPtr releases this once
       } else {
-        rv = MakeURI(NS_ConvertUCS2toUTF8(base), docBase, aURI);
+        rv = NS_NewURIWithDocumentCharset(aURI, base, mDocument, docBase);
       }
     }
 
@@ -319,15 +310,13 @@ static nsresult DocShellToPresContext(nsIDocShell *aShell,
 }
 
 
-static nsresult CheckLoadURI(nsIURI *aBaseURI, const nsAString& aURI,
-                             nsIURI **aAbsURI)
+static nsresult CheckLoadURI(const nsString& aSpec, nsIURI *aBaseURI,
+                             nsIDocument* aDocument, nsIURI **aAbsURI)
 {
-  NS_ConvertUCS2toUTF8 str(aURI);
-
   *aAbsURI = nsnull;
 
   nsresult rv;
-  rv = MakeURI(str, aBaseURI, aAbsURI);
+  rv = NS_NewURIWithDocumentCharset(aAbsURI, aSpec, aDocument, aBaseURI);
   if (NS_SUCCEEDED(rv)) {
     nsCOMPtr<nsIScriptSecurityManager> securityManager = 
              do_GetService(NS_SCRIPTSECURITYMANAGER_CONTRACTID, &rv);
@@ -449,12 +438,12 @@ nsXMLElement::MaybeTriggerAutoLink(nsIDocShell *aShell)
                                                 value);
         if (rv == NS_CONTENT_ATTR_HAS_VALUE && !value.IsEmpty()) {
           nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> uri;
-          rv = CheckLoadURI(base,value,getter_AddRefs(uri));
+          rv = CheckLoadURI(value, base, mDocument, getter_AddRefs(uri));
           if (NS_SUCCEEDED(rv)) {
             nsCOMPtr<nsIPresContext> pc;
-            rv = DocShellToPresContext(aShell,getter_AddRefs(pc));
+            rv = DocShellToPresContext(aShell, getter_AddRefs(pc));
             if (NS_SUCCEEDED(rv)) {
-              rv = TriggerLink(pc, verb, base, value,
+              rv = TriggerLink(pc, verb, base, uri,
                                NS_LITERAL_STRING(""), PR_TRUE);
 
               return SpecialAutoLoadReturn(rv,verb);
@@ -506,7 +495,6 @@ nsXMLElement::HandleDOMEvent(nsIPresContext* aPresContext,
             break;  // let the click go through so we can handle it in JS/XUL
           }
           nsAutoString show, href, target;
-          nsIURI* baseURL = nsnull;
           nsLinkVerb verb = eLinkVerb_Undefined; // basically means same as replace
           nsGenericContainerElement::GetAttr(kNameSpaceID_XLink,
                                              nsHTMLAtoms::href,
@@ -539,12 +527,16 @@ nsXMLElement::HandleDOMEvent(nsIPresContext* aPresContext,
             verb = eLinkVerb_Embed;
           }
 
-          GetXMLBaseURI(&baseURL);
+          nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> baseURL;
+          GetXMLBaseURI(getter_AddRefs(baseURL));
+          nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> uri;
+          ret = NS_NewURIWithDocumentCharset(getter_AddRefs(uri), href,
+                                             mDocument, baseURL);
+          if (NS_SUCCEEDED(ret)) {
+            ret = TriggerLink(aPresContext, verb, baseURL, uri, target,
+                              PR_TRUE);
+          }
 
-          ret = TriggerLink(aPresContext, verb, baseURL, href, target,
-                            PR_TRUE);
-
-          NS_IF_RELEASE(baseURL);
           *aEventStatus = nsEventStatus_eConsumeDoDefault; 
         }
       }
@@ -586,7 +578,6 @@ nsXMLElement::HandleDOMEvent(nsIPresContext* aPresContext,
     case NS_MOUSE_ENTER_SYNTH:
       {
         nsAutoString href, target;
-        nsIURI* baseURL = nsnull;
         nsGenericContainerElement::GetAttr(kNameSpaceID_XLink,
                                            nsHTMLAtoms::href,
                                            href);
@@ -595,12 +586,17 @@ nsXMLElement::HandleDOMEvent(nsIPresContext* aPresContext,
           break;
         }
 
-        GetXMLBaseURI(&baseURL);
+        nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> baseURL;
+        GetXMLBaseURI(getter_AddRefs(baseURL));
 
-        ret = TriggerLink(aPresContext, eLinkVerb_Replace, baseURL, href,
-                          target, PR_FALSE);
+        nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> uri;
+        ret = NS_NewURIWithDocumentCharset(getter_AddRefs(uri), href,
+                                           mDocument, baseURL);
+        if (NS_SUCCEEDED(ret)) {
+          ret = TriggerLink(aPresContext, eLinkVerb_Replace, baseURL, uri,
+                            target, PR_FALSE);
+        }
         
-        NS_IF_RELEASE(baseURL);
         *aEventStatus = nsEventStatus_eConsumeDoDefault; 
       }
       break;
diff --git a/content/xml/content/src/nsXMLStylesheetPI.cpp b/content/xml/content/src/nsXMLStylesheetPI.cpp
index fbda72d10b3a..54948131c60f 100644
--- a/content/xml/content/src/nsXMLStylesheetPI.cpp
+++ b/content/xml/content/src/nsXMLStylesheetPI.cpp
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ public:
 
 protected:
   void GetStyleSheetURL(PRBool* aIsInline,
-                        nsAString& aUrl);
+                        nsIURI** aURI);
   void GetStyleSheetInfo(nsAString& aTitle,
                          nsAString& aType,
                          nsAString& aMedia,
@@ -157,10 +157,10 @@ nsXMLStylesheetPI::GetCharset(nsAString& aCharset)
 
 void
 nsXMLStylesheetPI::GetStyleSheetURL(PRBool* aIsInline,
-                                    nsAString& aUrl)
+                                    nsIURI** aURI)
 {
   *aIsInline = PR_FALSE;
-  aUrl.Truncate();
+  *aURI = nsnull;
 
   nsAutoString href;
   GetAttrValue(NS_LITERAL_STRING("href"), href);
@@ -169,10 +169,12 @@ nsXMLStylesheetPI::GetStyleSheetURL(PRBool* aIsInline,
   }
 
   nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> url, baseURL;
+  nsCAutoString charset;
   if (mDocument) {
     mDocument->GetBaseURL(getter_AddRefs(baseURL));
+    mDocument->GetDocumentCharacterSet(charset);
   }
-  NS_MakeAbsoluteURI(aUrl, href, baseURL);
+  NS_NewURI(aURI, href, charset.get(), baseURL);
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/docshell/base/nsWebShell.cpp b/docshell/base/nsWebShell.cpp
index 43ff63e6863e..b17755b34747 100644
--- a/docshell/base/nsWebShell.cpp
+++ b/docshell/base/nsWebShell.cpp
@@ -757,86 +757,26 @@ nsWebShell::OnLeaveLink()
   return rv;
 }
 
-nsresult
-nsWebShell::NormalizeURI(nsACString& aURLSpec)
-{
-  nsIURI *uri = nsnull;
-  nsCAutoString scheme;
-  nsresult rv = mIOService->ExtractScheme(aURLSpec, scheme);
-  if (NS_FAILED(rv)) return rv;
-
-  // keep tempUri up here to keep it in scope
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> tempUri;
-
-  // used to avoid extra work later
-  PRBool clearUri(PR_TRUE);
-  
-  if (scheme.Equals(NS_LITERAL_CSTRING("http"))) {
-    if (mCachedHttpUrl)
-      rv = mCachedHttpUrl->SetSpec(aURLSpec);
-    else
-      rv = NS_NewURI(getter_AddRefs(mCachedHttpUrl), aURLSpec);
-    
-    uri = mCachedHttpUrl;
-  }
-
-  else if (scheme.Equals(NS_LITERAL_CSTRING("https"))) {
-    if (mCachedHttpsUrl)
-      rv = mCachedHttpsUrl->SetSpec(aURLSpec);
-    else
-      rv = NS_NewURI(getter_AddRefs(mCachedHttpsUrl), aURLSpec);
-
-    uri = mCachedHttpsUrl;
-  }
-
-  else if (scheme.Equals(NS_LITERAL_CSTRING("ftp"))) {
-    if (mCachedFtpUrl)
-      rv = mCachedFtpUrl->SetSpec(aURLSpec);
-    else      
-      rv = NS_NewURI(getter_AddRefs(mCachedFtpUrl), aURLSpec);
-    
-    uri = mCachedFtpUrl;
-  } else {
-    rv = NS_NewURI(getter_AddRefs(tempUri), aURLSpec);
-    uri = tempUri;
-    clearUri = PR_FALSE;
-  }
-
-  // covers all above failures
-  if (NS_FAILED(rv)) return rv;
-  
-  rv = uri->GetSpec(aURLSpec);
-
-  // clear out the old spec, for security reasons - old data should
-  // not be floating around in cached URIs!
-  // (but avoid doing extra work if we're just destroying the uri)
-  if (clearUri)
-    uri->SetSpec(NS_LITERAL_CSTRING(""));
-
-  return rv;
-}
-
 NS_IMETHODIMP
-nsWebShell::GetLinkState(const nsACString& aLinkURI, nsLinkState& aState)
+nsWebShell::GetLinkState(nsIURI* aLinkURI, nsLinkState& aState)
 {
+  if (!aLinkURI) {
+    // No uri means not a link
+    aState = eLinkState_NotLink;
+    return NS_OK;
+  }
+    
   aState = eLinkState_Unvisited;
 
   // no history, leave state unchanged
   if (!mGlobalHistory)
     return NS_OK;
-  
-  // default to the given URI
-  nsCAutoString resolvedPath(aLinkURI);
-  nsresult rv;
 
-  // get the cached IO service
-  if (!mIOService)
-    mIOService = do_GetService(NS_IOSERVICE_CONTRACTID, &rv);
-        
-  NormalizeURI(resolvedPath);
+  nsCAutoString spec;
+  aLinkURI->GetSpec(spec);
 
   PRBool isVisited;
-  NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(mGlobalHistory->IsVisited(resolvedPath.get(), &isVisited),
+  NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(mGlobalHistory->IsVisited(spec.get(), &isVisited),
                     NS_ERROR_FAILURE);
   if (isVisited)
     aState = eLinkState_Visited;
diff --git a/docshell/base/nsWebShell.h b/docshell/base/nsWebShell.h
index 66b18d5285de..731902fa9e96 100644
--- a/docshell/base/nsWebShell.h
+++ b/docshell/base/nsWebShell.h
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ public:
         nsIURI* aURI,
         const PRUnichar* aTargetSpec);
     NS_IMETHOD OnLeaveLink();
-    NS_IMETHOD GetLinkState(const nsACString& aLinkURI, nsLinkState& aState);
+    NS_IMETHOD GetLinkState(nsIURI* aLinkURI, nsLinkState& aState);
 
     NS_IMETHOD Create();
     NS_IMETHOD Destroy();
@@ -117,8 +117,6 @@ protected:
         nsIChannel* channel,
         nsresult aStatus);
 
-    nsresult NormalizeURI(nsACString& aURLSpec);
-
     PRThread *mThread;
 
     nsIWebShellContainer* mContainer;
@@ -134,17 +132,6 @@ protected:
         nsIStreamListener** aResult);
 
     nsCOMPtr<nsICommandManager> mCommandManager;
-
-    // cached io service for NS_NewURI
-    nsCOMPtr<nsIIOService> mIOService;
-
-    // these are specifically cached for these
-    // protocols, because we're optimizing for link coloring -
-    // most links are http, https, or ftp
-    nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> mCachedHttpUrl;
-    nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> mCachedHttpsUrl;
-    nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> mCachedFtpUrl;
-    
     
 #ifdef DEBUG
 private:
diff --git a/layout/style/nsStyleUtil.cpp b/layout/style/nsStyleUtil.cpp
index 903db3e8750b..7def156cbfc4 100644
--- a/layout/style/nsStyleUtil.cpp
+++ b/layout/style/nsStyleUtil.cpp
@@ -595,15 +595,14 @@ PRBool nsStyleUtil::IsHTMLLink(nsIContent *aContent, nsIAtom *aTag, nsIPresConte
         // if there is no link, then this anchor is not really a linkpseudo.
         // bug=23209
 
-        nsXPIDLCString href;
-        link->GetHrefUTF8(getter_Copies(href));
+        nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> hrefURI;
+        link->GetHrefURI(getter_AddRefs(hrefURI));
 
-        if (href) {
-          nsILinkHandler *linkHandler = nsnull;
-          aPresContext->GetLinkHandler(&linkHandler);
+        if (hrefURI) {
+          nsCOMPtr<nsILinkHandler> linkHandler;
+          aPresContext->GetLinkHandler(getter_AddRefs(linkHandler));
           if (linkHandler) {
-            linkHandler->GetLinkState(href, linkState);
-            NS_RELEASE(linkHandler);
+            linkHandler->GetLinkState(hrefURI, linkState);
           }
           else {
             // no link handler?  then all links are unvisited
@@ -665,16 +664,14 @@ PRBool nsStyleUtil::IsSimpleXlink(nsIContent *aContent, nsIPresContext *aPresCon
           }
         }
 
-        // convert here, rather than twice in NS_MakeAbsoluteURI and
-        // back again
-        nsCAutoString absHREF;
-        (void) NS_MakeAbsoluteURI(absHREF, NS_ConvertUCS2toUTF8(val), baseURI);
+        nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> absURI;
+        // XXX should we make sure to get the right charset off the document?
+        (void) NS_NewURI(getter_AddRefs(absURI), val, nsnull, baseURI);
 
-        nsILinkHandler *linkHandler = nsnull;
-        aPresContext->GetLinkHandler(&linkHandler);
+        nsCOMPtr<nsILinkHandler> linkHandler;
+        aPresContext->GetLinkHandler(getter_AddRefs(linkHandler));
         if (linkHandler) {
-          linkHandler->GetLinkState(absHREF, *aState);
-          NS_RELEASE(linkHandler);
+          linkHandler->GetLinkState(absURI, *aState);
         }
         else {
           // no link handler?  then all links are unvisited
diff --git a/netwerk/base/src/nsStandardURL.cpp b/netwerk/base/src/nsStandardURL.cpp
index be763e2ec3c9..eed77249c0c9 100644
--- a/netwerk/base/src/nsStandardURL.cpp
+++ b/netwerk/base/src/nsStandardURL.cpp
@@ -2264,8 +2264,14 @@ nsStandardURL::Init(PRUint32 urlType,
     else
         mOriginCharset = charset;
 
-    // an empty charset implies UTF-8
-    if (mOriginCharset.EqualsIgnoreCase("UTF-8"))
+    // URI can't be encoded in UTF-16, UTF-16BE, UTF-16LE, UTF-32, UTF-32-LE,
+    // UTF-32LE, UTF-32BE (yet?). Truncate mOriginCharset if it starts with
+    // "utf" (since an empty mOriginCharset implies UTF-8, this is safe even if
+    // mOriginCharset is UTF-8).
+    if (mOriginCharset.Length() >= 3 &&
+        (mOriginCharset[0] == 'U' || mOriginCharset[0] == 'u') &&
+        (mOriginCharset[1] == 'T' || mOriginCharset[1] == 't') &&
+        (mOriginCharset[2] == 'F' || mOriginCharset[2] == 'f'))
         mOriginCharset.Truncate();
 
     if (baseURI) {
diff --git a/webshell/public/nsILinkHandler.h b/webshell/public/nsILinkHandler.h
index 74524877fb4f..db9de1cf7f1d 100644
--- a/webshell/public/nsILinkHandler.h
+++ b/webshell/public/nsILinkHandler.h
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ public:
   /**
    * Get the state of a link to a given absolute URL
    */
-  NS_IMETHOD GetLinkState(const nsACString& aLinkURI, nsLinkState& aState) = 0;
+  NS_IMETHOD GetLinkState(nsIURI* aLinkURI, nsLinkState& aState) = 0;
 };
 
 #endif /* nsILinkHandler_h___ */