diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 3beb8bd71..a9a6d1e28 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1328,6 +1328,7 @@ libinput_a_SOURCES = \
 	src/input/Ptr.hxx \
 	src/input/InputPlugin.hxx \
 	src/input/RemoteTagScanner.hxx \
+	src/input/ScanTags.cxx src/input/ScanTags.hxx \
 	src/input/Reader.cxx src/input/Reader.hxx \
 	src/input/TextInputStream.cxx src/input/TextInputStream.hxx \
 	src/input/ThreadInputStream.cxx src/input/ThreadInputStream.hxx \
diff --git a/src/input/ScanTags.cxx b/src/input/ScanTags.cxx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..64183097f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/input/ScanTags.cxx
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2003-2017 The Music Player Daemon Project
+ * http://www.musicpd.org
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+ * with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ */
+
+#include "config.h"
+#include "ScanTags.hxx"
+#include "RemoteTagScanner.hxx"
+#include "InputPlugin.hxx"
+#include "Registry.hxx"
+
+std::unique_ptr<RemoteTagScanner>
+InputScanTags(const char *uri, RemoteTagHandler &handler)
+{
+	input_plugins_for_each_enabled(plugin) {
+		if (plugin->scan_tags == nullptr)
+			continue;
+
+		auto scanner = plugin->scan_tags(uri, handler);
+		if (scanner)
+			return scanner;
+	}
+
+	/* unsupported URI */
+	return nullptr;
+}
diff --git a/src/input/ScanTags.hxx b/src/input/ScanTags.hxx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7d1a31ded
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/input/ScanTags.hxx
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2003-2017 The Music Player Daemon Project
+ * http://www.musicpd.org
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+ * with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ */
+
+#ifndef MPD_INPUT_SCAN_TAGS_HXX
+#define MPD_INPUT_SCAN_TAGS_HXX
+
+#include "check.h"
+
+#include <memory>
+
+class RemoteTagScanner;
+class RemoteTagHandler;
+
+/**
+ * Find an #InputPlugin which supports the given URI and let it create
+ * a #RemoteTagScanner.
+ *
+ * Throws exception on error
+ *
+ * @return a #RemoteTagScanner or nullptr if the URI is not supported
+ * by any (enabled) plugin
+ */
+std::unique_ptr<RemoteTagScanner>
+InputScanTags(const char *uri, RemoteTagHandler &handler);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/test/run_input.cxx b/test/run_input.cxx
index 0933f4f12..fc5937f68 100644
--- a/test/run_input.cxx
+++ b/test/run_input.cxx
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include "input/Registry.hxx"
 #include "input/InputPlugin.hxx"
 #include "input/RemoteTagScanner.hxx"
+#include "input/ScanTags.hxx"
 #include "event/Thread.hxx"
 #include "thread/Cond.hxx"
 #include "Log.hxx"
@@ -213,20 +214,15 @@ Scan(const char *uri)
 {
 	DumpRemoteTagHandler handler;
 
-	input_plugins_for_each_enabled(plugin) {
-		if (plugin->scan_tags == nullptr)
-			continue;
-
-		auto scanner = plugin->scan_tags(uri, handler);
-		if (scanner) {
-			scanner->Start();
-			tag_save(stdout, handler.Wait());
-			return EXIT_SUCCESS;
-		}
+	auto scanner = InputScanTags(uri, handler);
+	if (!scanner) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Unsupported URI\n");
+		return EXIT_FAILURE;
 	}
 
-	fprintf(stderr, "Unsupported URI\n");
-	return EXIT_FAILURE;
+	scanner->Start();
+	tag_save(stdout, handler.Wait());
+	return EXIT_SUCCESS;
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char **argv)