diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/epub.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/epub.py
index a8c2105c02..360869cc9c 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/epub.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/epub.py
@@ -106,9 +106,11 @@ class CoverRenderer(QObject):
     WIDTH  = 600
     HEIGHT = 800
     
-    def __init__(self, url, size, loop):
+    def __init__(self, path):
+        if QApplication.instance() is None:
+            QApplication([])
         QObject.__init__(self)
-        self.loop = loop
+        self.loop = QEventLoop()
         self.page = QWebPage()
         pal = self.page.palette()
         pal.setBrush(QPalette.Background, Qt.white)
@@ -117,33 +119,43 @@ class CoverRenderer(QObject):
         self.page.mainFrame().setScrollBarPolicy(Qt.Vertical, Qt.ScrollBarAlwaysOff)
         self.page.mainFrame().setScrollBarPolicy(Qt.Horizontal, Qt.ScrollBarAlwaysOff)
         QObject.connect(self.page, SIGNAL('loadFinished(bool)'), self.render_html)
-        self.image_data = None
+        self._image_data = None
         self.rendered = False
+        url = QUrl.fromLocalFile(os.path.normpath(path))
         self.page.mainFrame().load(url)
         
     def render_html(self, ok):
-        self.rendered = True
         try:
             if not ok:
+                self.rendered = True
                 return
-            #size = self.page.mainFrame().contentsSize()
-            #width, height = fit_image(size.width(), size.height(), self.WIDTH, self.HEIGHT)[1:]
-            #self.page.setViewportSize(QSize(width, height))
             image = QImage(self.page.viewportSize(), QImage.Format_ARGB32)
             image.setDotsPerMeterX(96*(100/2.54))
             image.setDotsPerMeterY(96*(100/2.54))
             painter = QPainter(image)
             self.page.mainFrame().render(painter)
             painter.end()
-            
             ba = QByteArray()
             buf = QBuffer(ba)
             buf.open(QBuffer.WriteOnly)
             image.save(buf, 'JPEG')
-            self.image_data = str(ba.data())
+            self._image_data = str(ba.data())
         finally:
             self.loop.exit(0)
-        
+        self.rendered = True
+
+    def image_data():
+        def fget(self):
+            if not self.rendered:
+                self.loop.exec_()
+                count = 0
+                while count < 50 and not self.rendered:
+                    time.sleep(0.1)
+                    count += 1
+            return self._image_data
+        return property(fget=fget)
+    image_data = image_data()
+
 
 def get_cover(opf, opf_path, stream):
     spine = list(opf.spine_items())
@@ -155,20 +167,11 @@ def get_cover(opf, opf_path, stream):
             stream.seek(0)
             ZipFile(stream).extractall()
             opf_path = opf_path.replace('/', os.sep)
-            cpage = os.path.join(tdir, os.path.dirname(opf_path), *cpage.split('/'))
+            cpage = os.path.join(tdir, os.path.dirname(opf_path), cpage)
             if not os.path.exists(cpage):
                 return
-            if QApplication.instance() is None:
-                QApplication([])
-            url = QUrl.fromLocalFile(cpage)
-            loop = QEventLoop()
-            cr = CoverRenderer(url, os.stat(cpage).st_size, loop)
-            loop.exec_()
-            count = 0
-            while count < 50 and not cr.rendered:
-                time.sleep(0.1)
-                count += 1
-    return cr.image_data 
+            cr = CoverRenderer(cpage)
+            return cr.image_data
     
 def get_metadata(stream, extract_cover=True):
     """ Return metadata as a :class:`MetaInformation` object """
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/base.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/base.py
index 927592ac0e..8b505ae4aa 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/base.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/base.py
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ from calibre import LoggingInterface
 from calibre.translations.dynamic import translate
 from calibre.startup import get_lang
 from calibre.ebooks.oeb.entitydefs import ENTITYDEFS
+from calibre.ebooks.metadata.epub import CoverRenderer
+from calibre.ptempfile import TemporaryDirectory
 
 XML_NS = 'http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace'
 XHTML_NS = 'http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'
@@ -798,7 +800,6 @@ class TOC(object):
 class OEBBook(object):
     COVER_SVG_XP = XPath('h:body//svg:svg[position() = 1]')
     COVER_OBJECT_XP = XPath('h:body//h:object[@data][position() = 1]')
-    COVER_IMG_XP = XPath('h:body//h:img[@src][position() = 1]')
 
     def __init__(self, opfpath=None, container=None, encoding=None,
                  logger=FauxLogger()):
@@ -1055,6 +1056,17 @@ class OEBBook(object):
         if self._toc_from_html(opf): return
         self._toc_from_spine(opf)
 
+    def _cover_from_html(self, hcover):
+        with TemporaryDirectory('_html_cover') as tdir:
+            writer = DirWriter()
+            writer.dump(self, tdir)
+            path = os.path.join(tdir, hcover.href)
+            renderer = CoverRenderer(path)
+            data = renderer.image_data
+        id, href = self.manifest.generate('cover', 'cover.jpeg')
+        item = self.manifest.add(id, href, JPEG_MIME, data=data)
+        return item
+        
     def _locate_cover_image(self):
         if self.metadata.cover:
             id = str(self.metadata.cover[0])
@@ -1088,18 +1100,10 @@ class OEBBook(object):
             item = self.manifest.hrefs.get(href, None)
             if item is not None and item.media_type in OEB_IMAGES:
                 return item
-        if self.COVER_IMG_XP(html):
-            img = self.COVER_IMG_XP(html)[0]
-            href = hcover.abshref(img.get('src'))
-            item = self.manifest.hrefs.get(href, None)
-            if item is not None and item.media_type in OEB_IMAGES:
-                return item            
-        return None
+        return self._cover_from_html(hcover)
         
     def _ensure_cover_image(self):
         cover = self._locate_cover_image()
-        if not cover:
-            return
         if self.metadata.cover:
             self.metadata.cover[0].value = cover.id
             return