diff --git a/docshell/base/nsWebShell.cpp b/docshell/base/nsWebShell.cpp
index 6de9527158a..d408b3c2212 100644
--- a/docshell/base/nsWebShell.cpp
+++ b/docshell/base/nsWebShell.cpp
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ nsWebShell::~nsWebShell()
 #if 0
     nsrefcnt refcnt;
     NS_RELEASE2(mDocLoader, refcnt);
-    NS_ASSERTION(mDocLoader == nsnull, "Still have a docloader? who owns it?!");
+    NS_ASSERTION(refcnt == 0, "Still have a docloader? who owns it?!");
 #else
     NS_RELEASE(mDocLoader);
 #endif
@@ -695,6 +695,65 @@ nsWebShell::OnOverLink(nsIContent* aContent,
   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)
 {
@@ -707,24 +766,13 @@ nsWebShell::GetLinkState(const nsACString& aLinkURI, nsLinkState& aState)
   // default to the given URI
   nsCAutoString resolvedPath(aLinkURI);
   nsresult rv;
-    
+
   // get the cached IO service
-  if (!mIOService) {
+  if (!mIOService)
     mIOService = do_GetService(NS_IOSERVICE_CONTRACTID, &rv);
         
-    if (NS_SUCCEEDED(rv)) {
+  NormalizeURI(resolvedPath);
 
-      // clean up the url using the right parser
-      nsCOMPtr<nsIURI> uri;
-      rv = NS_NewURI(getter_AddRefs(uri), aLinkURI, nsnull, nsnull,
-                     mIOService);
-
-      // now get the fully canonicalized path
-      if (NS_SUCCEEDED(rv))
-        rv = uri->GetSpec(resolvedPath);
-    }
-  }
-  
   PRBool isVisited;
   NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(mGlobalHistory->IsVisited(resolvedPath.get(), &isVisited),
                     NS_ERROR_FAILURE);
diff --git a/docshell/base/nsWebShell.h b/docshell/base/nsWebShell.h
index b555af7a8ad..b1988224030 100644
--- a/docshell/base/nsWebShell.h
+++ b/docshell/base/nsWebShell.h
@@ -115,6 +115,8 @@ protected:
         nsIChannel* channel,
         nsresult aStatus);
 
+    nsresult NormalizeURI(nsACString& aURLSpec);
+
     PRThread *mThread;
 
     nsIWebShellContainer* mContainer;
@@ -133,6 +135,14 @@ protected:
 
     // 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: