diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
index 5df8a1a4..af519fb0 100644
--- a/INSTALL
+++ b/INSTALL
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ If you are interested in (non-) touchscreen behaviour, try this:
 
 'MIDORI_TOUCHSCREEN=0 _build_/default/midori/midori'
 
+If you want to "dry run" without WebKitGTK+ rendering, try this:
+
+'MIDORI_UNARMED=1 _build_/default/midori/midori'
+
 For further information a tutorial for gdb and
 reading up on how you can install debugging
 symbols for libraries used by Midori are recommended.
diff --git a/midori/main.c b/midori/main.c
index 759dc81f..91e5c5be 100644
--- a/midori/main.c
+++ b/midori/main.c
@@ -1200,7 +1200,8 @@ midori_load_extensions (gpointer data)
     }
     g_strfreev (active_extensions);
 
-    g_idle_add (midori_load_netscape_plugins, app);
+    if (g_getenv ("MIDORI_UNARMED") == NULL)
+        g_idle_add (midori_load_netscape_plugins, app);
 
     #ifdef G_ENABLE_DEBUG
     if (startup_timer)
diff --git a/midori/midori-view.c b/midori/midori-view.c
index 684b3bc4..20d1ad68 100644
--- a/midori/midori-view.c
+++ b/midori/midori-view.c
@@ -3455,7 +3455,7 @@ midori_view_set_uri (MidoriView*  view,
     /* Treat "about:blank" and "" equally, see midori_view_is_blank(). */
     if (!uri || !strcmp (uri, "about:blank")) uri = "";
 
-    if (1)
+    if (g_getenv ("MIDORI_UNARMED") == NULL)
     {
         if (!view->web_view)
             midori_view_construct_web_view (view);
@@ -4674,6 +4674,9 @@ midori_view_get_previous_page (MidoriView* view)
 
     g_return_val_if_fail (MIDORI_IS_VIEW (view), NULL);
 
+    if (!view->web_view)
+        return NULL;
+
     web_frame = webkit_web_view_get_main_frame (WEBKIT_WEB_VIEW (view->web_view));
     js_context = webkit_web_frame_get_global_context (web_frame);
     katze_assign (uri, sokoke_js_script_eval (js_context,
@@ -4731,6 +4734,9 @@ midori_view_get_next_page (MidoriView* view)
 
     g_return_val_if_fail (MIDORI_IS_VIEW (view), NULL);
 
+    if (!view->web_view)
+        return NULL;
+
     web_frame = webkit_web_view_get_main_frame (WEBKIT_WEB_VIEW (view->web_view));
     js_context = webkit_web_frame_get_global_context (web_frame);
     katze_assign (uri, sokoke_js_script_eval (js_context,