diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/processor.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/processor.py
index 6a20703cbb..b2a6292748 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/processor.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/processor.py
@@ -102,25 +102,26 @@ def convert_basic(txt, title='', epub_split_size_kb=0):
 DEFAULT_MD_EXTENSIONS = ('footnotes', 'tables', 'toc')
 
 
-def convert_markdown(txt, title='', extensions=DEFAULT_MD_EXTENSIONS):
-    from calibre.ebooks.conversion.plugins.txt_input import MD_EXTENSIONS
+def create_markdown_object(extensions):
     from calibre.ebooks.markdown import Markdown
-    extensions = ['calibre.ebooks.markdown.extensions.' + x.lower() for x in extensions if x.lower() in MD_EXTENSIONS]
+    from calibre.ebooks.conversion.plugins.txt_input import MD_EXTENSIONS
+    extensions = [x.lower() for x in extensions if x.lower() in MD_EXTENSIONS]
     md = Markdown(extensions=extensions)
+    return md
+
+
+def convert_markdown(txt, title='', extensions=DEFAULT_MD_EXTENSIONS):
+    md = create_markdown_object(extensions)
     return HTML_TEMPLATE % (title, md.convert(txt))
 
 
 def convert_markdown_with_metadata(txt, title='', extensions=DEFAULT_MD_EXTENSIONS):
-    from calibre.ebooks.conversion.plugins.txt_input import MD_EXTENSIONS
-    from calibre.ebooks.markdown import Markdown
     from calibre.ebooks.metadata.book.base import Metadata
     from calibre.utils.date import parse_only_date
     from calibre.db.write import get_series_values
-    extensions = ['calibre.ebooks.markdown.extensions.' + x.lower() for x in extensions if x.lower() in MD_EXTENSIONS]
-    meta_ext = 'calibre.ebooks.markdown.extensions.meta'
-    if meta_ext not in extensions:
-        extensions.append(meta_ext)
-    md = Markdown(extensions=extensions)
+    if 'meta' not in extensions:
+        extensions.append('meta')
+    md = create_markdown_object(extensions)
     html = md.convert(txt)
     mi = Metadata(title or _('Unknown'))
     m = md.Meta
diff --git a/src/calibre/test_build.py b/src/calibre/test_build.py
index c38baac7bf..64470fa025 100644
--- a/src/calibre/test_build.py
+++ b/src/calibre/test_build.py
@@ -269,9 +269,9 @@ class BuildTest(unittest.TestCase):
         del readline
 
     def test_markdown(self):
-        from calibre.ebooks.markdown import Markdown
+        from calibre.ebooks.txt.processor import create_markdown_object
         from calibre.ebooks.conversion.plugins.txt_input import MD_EXTENSIONS
-        Markdown(extensions=MD_EXTENSIONS)
+        create_markdown_object(MD_EXTENSIONS)
         from calibre.library.comments import sanitize_comments_html
         sanitize_comments_html(b'''<script>moo</script>xxx<img src="http://moo.com/x.jpg">''')