diff --git a/resources/scraper.js b/resources/scraper.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..240d7e144c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resources/scraper.js
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+/* vim:fileencoding=utf-8
+ * 
+ * Copyright (C) 2022 Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+ *
+ * Distributed under terms of the GPLv3 license
+ */
+
+
+(function() {
+    "use strict";
+
+    function send_msg(data) {
+        var token = 'TOKEN';
+        var msg = token + '  ' + JSON.stringify(data);
+        console.log(msg);
+    }
+
+    function debug() {
+        var args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments);
+        var text = args.join(' ');
+        send_msg({type: 'print', text: text});
+    }
+
+    if (document.location.href.startsWith('chrome-error://')) {
+        send_msg({type: 'domready', 'failed': true});
+    } else {
+        send_msg({type: 'domready', html: new XMLSerializer().serializeToString(document)}); 
+    }
+})();
diff --git a/src/calibre/scraper/simple.py b/src/calibre/scraper/simple.py
index f45ba8d89e..a599e91677 100644
--- a/src/calibre/scraper/simple.py
+++ b/src/calibre/scraper/simple.py
@@ -3,12 +3,17 @@
 # License: GPL v3 Copyright: 2022, Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
 
 
+import json
 import os
+import secrets
+import sys
+import time
 from functools import lru_cache
-from qt.core import QApplication
+from qt.core import QApplication, QEventLoop, QUrl, pyqtSignal
 from qt.webengine import QWebEnginePage, QWebEngineProfile, QWebEngineSettings
 
 from calibre.constants import cache_dir
+from calibre.gui2.webengine import create_script, insert_scripts
 
 
 @lru_cache(maxsize=4)
@@ -28,14 +33,24 @@ def create_profile(cache_name='simple', allow_js=False):
     # ensure javascript cannot read from local files
     a(QWebEngineSettings.WebAttribute.LocalContentCanAccessFileUrls, False)
     a(QWebEngineSettings.WebAttribute.AllowWindowActivationFromJavaScript, False)
-    return s
+    js = P('scraper.js', allow_user_override=False, data=True).decode('utf-8')
+    ans.token = secrets.token_hex()
+    js = js.replace('TOKEN', ans.token)
+    insert_scripts(ans, create_script('scraper.js', js))
+    return ans
 
 
 class SimpleScraper(QWebEnginePage):
 
+    html_fetched = pyqtSignal(str)
+
     def __init__(self, source, parent=None):
-        super().__init__(create_profile(source), parent=parent)
+        profile = create_profile(source)
+        self.token = profile.token
+        super().__init__(profile, parent)
         self.setAudioMuted(True)
+        self.fetching_url = QUrl('invalid://XXX')
+        self.last_fetched_html = ''
 
     def javaScriptAlert(self, url, msg):
         pass
@@ -47,4 +62,41 @@ class SimpleScraper(QWebEnginePage):
         return True, defval
 
     def javaScriptConsoleMessage(self, level, message, line_num, source_id):
-        pass
+        parts = message.split(maxsplit=1)
+        if len(parts) == 2 and parts[0] == self.token:
+            msg = json.loads(parts[1])
+            t = msg.get('type')
+            if t == 'print':
+                print(msg['text'], file=sys.stderr)
+            elif t == 'domready':
+                if self.url() == self.fetching_url:
+                    if msg.get('failed'):
+                        self.last_fetched_html = '!'
+                    else:
+                        self.last_fetched_html = msg['html']
+                    self.html_fetched.emit(self.last_fetched_html)
+
+    def start_fetch(self, url_or_qurl):
+        self.fetching_url = QUrl(url_or_qurl)
+        self.load(self.fetching_url)
+
+    def fetch(self, url_or_qurl, timeout=60):
+        self.last_fetched_html = ''
+        self.start_fetch(url_or_qurl)
+        app = QApplication.instance()
+        end = time.monotonic() + timeout
+        while not self.last_fetched_html and time.monotonic() < end:
+            app.processEvents(QEventLoop.ProcessEventsFlag.ExcludeUserInputEvents)
+        ans = self.last_fetched_html
+        self.last_fetched_html = ''
+        if ans == '!':
+            raise ValueError(f'Failed to load HTML from {url_or_qurl}')
+        return ans
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    app = QApplication([])
+    s = SimpleScraper('test')
+    s.fetch('file:///t/raw.html')
+    del s
+    del app