diff --git a/src/calibre/ptempfile.py b/src/calibre/ptempfile.py
index f4bcfa8675..b71ff15f65 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ptempfile.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ptempfile.py
@@ -51,6 +51,31 @@ class PersistentTemporaryFile(object):
         except:
             pass
 
+    def startswith(self,*args):
+        if len(args):
+            str = args[0]
+            beg = 0
+            end = len(str)
+        else:
+            return False
+
+        if len(args) > 1:
+            begin = args[1]
+        if len(args) > 2:
+            end = args[2]
+        if self._name[beg:end].startswith(str):
+            return True
+        return False
+
+    def split(self,*args):
+        if len(args):
+            sep = args[0]
+        if len(args) > 1:
+            maxsplit = args[1]
+            return self._name.split(sep,maxsplit)
+        else:
+            return self._name.split(sep)
+
 
 def PersistentTemporaryDirectory(suffix='', prefix='', dir=None):
     '''