diff --git a/src/calibre/constants.py b/src/calibre/constants.py
index 99146e206c..5c9ecbc832 100644
--- a/src/calibre/constants.py
+++ b/src/calibre/constants.py
@@ -282,3 +282,8 @@ def get_windows_user_locale_name():
         return None
     return u'_'.join(buf.value.split(u'-')[:2])
 
+def is_modern_webkit():
+    # Check if we are using QtWebKit >= 2.3
+    from PyQt4.QtWebKit import qWebKitMajorVersion
+    return qWebKitMajorVersion() >= 537
+