diff --git a/src/common/passwords.py b/src/common/passwords.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8c29bef68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/passwords.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+##
+## Copyright (C) 2006 Gustavo J. A. M. Carneiro <gjcarneiro@gmail.com>
+## Copyright (C) 2006 Nikos Kouremenos <kourem@gmail.com>
+##
+## This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+## it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published
+## by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 only.
+##
+## This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+## but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+## MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+## GNU General Public License for more details.
+##
+
+__all__ = ['get_password', 'save_password']
+
+import gobject
+
+from common import gajim
+
+try:
+	import gnomekeyring
+except ImportError:
+	USER_HAS_GNOMEKEYRING = False
+else:
+	USER_HAS_GNOMEKEYRING = True
+
+
+class SimplePasswordStorage(object):
+	def get_password(self, account_name):
+		return gajim.config.get_per('accounts', account_name, 'password')
+
+	def save_password(self, account_name, password):
+		gajim.connections[account_name].password = password
+
+
+class GnomePasswordStorage(object):
+	def __init__(self):
+		self.keyring = gnomekeyring.get_default_keyring_sync()
+
+	def get_password(self, account_name):
+		conf = gajim.config.get_per('accounts', account_name, 'password')
+		try:
+			unused, auth_token = conf.split("gnomekeyring:")
+			auth_token = int(auth_token)
+			print "load: token for account %s: %i" % (account_name, auth_token)
+		except ValueError:
+			password = conf
+			## migrate the password over to keyring
+			self.save_password(account_name, password, update=False)
+			return password
+		try:
+			return gnomekeyring.item_get_info_sync(self.keyring, auth_token).get_secret()
+		except gnomekeyring.DeniedError:
+			return None
+		
+	def save_password(self, account_name, password, update=True):
+		display_name = ("Gajim account %s" % (account_name,))
+		attributes = dict(account_name=str(account_name), gajim=1)
+		auth_token = gnomekeyring.item_create_sync(
+			self.keyring, gnomekeyring.ITEM_GENERIC_SECRET,
+			display_name, attributes, password, update)
+		print "save(update=%i): token for account %s: %i" % (update, account_name, auth_token)
+		token = "gnomekeyring:%i" % (auth_token,)
+		gajim.config.set_per('accounts', account_name, 'password', token)
+
+
+storage = None
+def get_storage():
+	global storage
+	if storage is None:
+		if USER_HAS_GNOMEKEYRING:
+			#FIXME: detect if we're running under GNOME or not
+			#before deciding to use the GnomeKeyring backend
+			storage = GnomePasswordStorage()
+		else:
+			storage = SimplePasswordStorage()
+	return storage
+
+def get_password(account_name):
+	return get_storage().get_password(account_name)
+
+def save_password(account_name, password):
+	return get_storage().save_password(account_name, password)