diff --git a/src/calibre/libunrar.py b/src/calibre/libunrar.py
index bff284d4c8..bf38a47d64 100644
--- a/src/calibre/libunrar.py
+++ b/src/calibre/libunrar.py
@@ -217,7 +217,41 @@ def names(path):
     finally:
         _libunrar.RARCloseArchive(arc_data)
 
-def extract_member(path, match=re.compile(r'\.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png)\s*$', re.I), name=None):
+def _extract_member(path, match, name):
+
+    def is_match(fname):
+        return (name is not None and fname == name) or \
+               (match is not None and match.search(fname) is not None)
+
+    open_archive_data = RAROpenArchiveDataEx(ArcName=path, OpenMode=RAR_OM_EXTRACT, CmtBuf=None)
+    arc_data = _libunrar.RAROpenArchiveEx(byref(open_archive_data))
+    try:
+        if open_archive_data.OpenResult != 0:
+            raise UnRARException(_interpret_open_error(open_archive_data.OpenResult, path))
+        header_data = RARHeaderDataEx(CmtBuf=None)
+        first = True
+        while True:
+            if _libunrar.RARReadHeaderEx(arc_data, byref(header_data)) != 0:
+                raise UnRARException('%s has no files'%path if first
+                        else 'No match found in %s'%path)
+            file_name = header_data.FileNameW
+            if is_match(file_name):
+                PFCode = _libunrar.RARProcessFileW(arc_data, RAR_EXTRACT, None, None)
+                if PFCode != 0:
+                    raise UnRARException(_interpret_process_file_error(PFCode))
+                abspath = os.path.abspath(*file_name.split('/'))
+                return abspath
+            else:
+                PFCode = _libunrar.RARProcessFileW(arc_data, RAR_SKIP, None, None)
+                if PFCode != 0:
+                    raise UnRARException(_interpret_process_file_error(PFCode))
+            first = False
+
+    finally:
+        _libunrar.RARCloseArchive(arc_data)
+
+def extract_member(path, match=re.compile(r'\.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png)\s*$', re.I),
+        name=None, as_file=False):
     if hasattr(path, 'read'):
         data = path.read()
         f = NamedTemporaryFile(suffix='.rar')
@@ -225,34 +259,13 @@ def extract_member(path, match=re.compile(r'\.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png)\s*$', re.I), na
         f.flush()
         path = f.name
 
-    def is_match(fname):
-        return (name is not None and fname == name) or \
-               (match is not None and match.search(fname))
-
-    with TemporaryDirectory('_libunrar') as dir:
-        with CurrentDir(dir):
-            open_archive_data = RAROpenArchiveDataEx(ArcName=path, OpenMode=RAR_OM_EXTRACT, CmtBuf=None)
-            arc_data = _libunrar.RAROpenArchiveEx(byref(open_archive_data))
-            try:
-                if open_archive_data.OpenResult != 0:
-                    raise UnRARException(_interpret_open_error(open_archive_data.OpenResult, path))
-                header_data = RARHeaderDataEx(CmtBuf=None)
-                while True:
-                    if _libunrar.RARReadHeaderEx(arc_data, byref(header_data)) != 0:
-                        raise UnRARException('%s has no files'%path)
-                    file_name = header_data.FileNameW
-                    if is_match(file_name):
-                        PFCode = _libunrar.RARProcessFileW(arc_data, RAR_EXTRACT, None, None)
-                        if PFCode != 0:
-                            raise UnRARException(_interpret_process_file_error(PFCode))
-                        return header_data.FileNameW.replace('/', os.sep), \
-                                open(os.path.join(dir, *header_data.FileNameW.split('/')), 'rb').read()
-                    else:
-                        PFCode = _libunrar.RARProcessFileW(arc_data, RAR_SKIP, None, None)
-                        if PFCode != 0:
-                            raise UnRARException(_interpret_process_file_error(PFCode))
-
-            finally:
-                _libunrar.RARCloseArchive(arc_data)
-
+    path = os.path.abspath(path)
+    if as_file:
+        path = _extract_member(path, match, name)
+        return path, open(path, 'rb')
+    else:
+        with TemporaryDirectory('_libunrar') as tdir:
+            with CurrentDir(tdir):
+                path = _extract_member(path, match, name)
+                return path, open(path, 'rb').read()