diff --git a/src/editor.coffee b/src/editor.coffee
index d4d21f7af..a064499cc 100644
--- a/src/editor.coffee
+++ b/src/editor.coffee
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 $ = require 'jquery'
 _ = require 'underscore'
 
-{Chrome, File, Process, Dir} = require 'osx'
+{Chrome, Process, Dir} = require 'osx'
+File = require 'fs'
 
 ace = require 'ace/ace'
 canon = require 'pilot/canon'
diff --git a/src/fs.coffee b/src/fs.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..78e1214e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/fs.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# commonjs fs module
+# http://ringojs.org/api/v0.8/fs/
+
+module.exports =
+  # Make the given path absolute by resolving it against the
+  # current working directory.
+  absolute: (path) ->
+    if /~/.test path
+      OSX.NSString.stringWithString(path).stringByExpandingTildeInPath
+    else if path.indexOf('./') is 0
+      "#{Chrome.appRoot}/#{path}"
+    else
+      path
+
+  # Returns true if the file specified by path exists and is a
+  # regular file.
+  isFile: (path) ->
+    isDir = new jscocoa.outArgument
+    exists = OSX.NSFileManager.defaultManager.
+      fileExistsAtPath_isDirectory path, isDir
+    exists and not isDir.valueOf()
+
+  # Open, read, and close a file, returning the file's contents.
+  read: (path) ->
+    OSX.NSString.stringWithContentsOfFile(@absolute path).toString()
+
+  # Open, write, flush, and close a file, writing the given content.
+  write: (path, content) ->
+    str = OSX.NSString.stringWithString content
+    str.writeToFile_atomically @absolute(path), true
diff --git a/src/osx.coffee b/src/osx.coffee
index 276563412..bc401d22f 100644
--- a/src/osx.coffee
+++ b/src/osx.coffee
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ $ = require 'jquery'
 _ = require 'underscore'
 jscocoa = require 'jscocoa'
 Editor  = require 'editor'
+File    = require 'fs'
 
 # Handles the UI chrome
 Chrome =
@@ -87,28 +88,9 @@ Chrome =
     OSX.NSBundle.mainBundle.resourcePath
 
 # Handles the file system
-File =
-  read: (path) ->
-    OSX.NSString.stringWithContentsOfFile(File.expand path).toString()
-  write: (path, contents) ->
-    str = OSX.NSString.stringWithString contents
-    str.writeToFile_atomically File.expand(path), true
-  expand: (path) ->
-    if /~/.test path
-      OSX.NSString.stringWithString(path).stringByExpandingTildeInPath
-    else if path.indexOf('./') is 0
-      "#{Chrome.appRoot}/#{path}"
-    else
-      path
-  isFile: (path) ->
-    isDir = new jscocoa.outArgument
-    exists = OSX.NSFileManager.defaultManager.
-      fileExistsAtPath_isDirectory path, isDir
-    exists and not isDir.valueOf()
-
 Dir =
   list: (path, recursive) ->
-    path = File.expand path
+    path = File.absolute path
     fm = OSX.NSFileManager.defaultManager
     if recursive
       paths = fm.subpathsAtPath path
diff --git a/src/plugins.coffee b/src/plugins.coffee
index d7ccd5a73..abe2261d0 100644
--- a/src/plugins.coffee
+++ b/src/plugins.coffee
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 $ = require 'jquery'
 _ = require 'underscore'
 
-{Chrome, Dir, File} = require 'osx'
+{Chrome, Dir} = require 'osx'
+File = require 'fs'
 
 _.map Dir.list(Chrome.appRoot() + "/plugins"), (plugin) ->
   require plugin