diff --git a/omaha_request_params.cc b/omaha_request_params.cc
index 9a729f0..ea25c74 100644
--- a/omaha_request_params.cc
+++ b/omaha_request_params.cc
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
   hwid_ = utils::GetHardwareClass();
   if (CollectECFWVersions()) {
     fw_version_ = utils::GetFirmwareVersion();
-    ec_version_ = utils::GetECVersion(NULL);
+    ec_version_ = utils::GetECVersion();
   }
 
   if (current_channel_ == target_channel_) {
diff --git a/utils.cc b/utils.cc
index c5d3e05..7a304ee 100644
--- a/utils.cc
+++ b/utils.cc
@@ -109,30 +109,30 @@
   return ReadValueFromCrosSystem("fwid");
 }
 
-string GetECVersion(const char* input_line) {
-  string line;
-  if(input_line == NULL) {
-    int exit_code = 0;
-    vector<string> cmd(1, "/usr/sbin/mosys");
-    cmd.push_back("-k");
-    cmd.push_back("ec");
-    cmd.push_back("info");
+string GetECVersion() {
+  int exit_code = 0;
+  vector<string> cmd(1, "/usr/sbin/mosys");
+  cmd.push_back("-k");
+  cmd.push_back("ec");
+  cmd.push_back("info");
 
-    bool success = Subprocess::SynchronousExec(cmd, &exit_code, &line);
-    if (!success || exit_code) {
-      LOG(ERROR) << "Unable to read ec info from mosys (" << exit_code << ")";
-      return "";
-    }
-  } else {
-    line = input_line;
+  string input_line;
+  bool success = Subprocess::SynchronousExec(cmd, &exit_code, &input_line);
+  if (!success || exit_code) {
+    LOG(ERROR) << "Unable to read ec info from mosys (" << exit_code << ")";
+    return "";
   }
 
-  TrimWhitespaceASCII(line, TRIM_ALL, &line);
+  return ParseECVersion(input_line);
+}
+
+string ParseECVersion(string input_line) {
+  TrimWhitespaceASCII(input_line, TRIM_ALL, &input_line);
 
   // At this point we want to conver the format key=value pair from mosys to
   // a vector of key value pairs.
   vector<pair<string, string> > kv_pairs;
-  if (base::SplitStringIntoKeyValuePairs(line, '=', ' ', &kv_pairs)) {
+  if (base::SplitStringIntoKeyValuePairs(input_line, '=', ' ', &kv_pairs)) {
     for (vector<pair<string, string> >::iterator it = kv_pairs.begin();
          it != kv_pairs.end(); ++it) {
       // Finally match against the fw_verion which may have quotes.
diff --git a/utils.h b/utils.h
index 6f6539f..30c2ccd 100644
--- a/utils.h
+++ b/utils.h
@@ -61,11 +61,14 @@
 // chrome os firmware.
 std::string GetFirmwareVersion();
 
-// Returns the ec version or an empty string if the system is not running a
-// custom chrome os ec. If input_line is not NULL, reads from this line,
-// otherwise polls the system for the input line. input_line should contain
-// fw_version=value.
-std::string GetECVersion(const char* input_line);
+// Parse the firmware version from one line of output from the
+// "mosys" command.
+std::string ParseECVersion(std::string input_line);
+
+// Reads and parses the ec version from the "mosys" command.  Returns
+// the version found, or an empty string if the system is not running a
+// custom chrome os ec.
+std::string GetECVersion();
 
 // Writes the data passed to path. The file at path will be overwritten if it
 // exists. Returns true on success, false otherwise.
diff --git a/utils_unittest.cc b/utils_unittest.cc
index ae7343d..c9afbe0 100644
--- a/utils_unittest.cc
+++ b/utils_unittest.cc
@@ -38,18 +38,16 @@
 }
 
 TEST(UtilsTest, CanParseECVersion) {
-  // Chroot won't have an ec version.
-  EXPECT_EQ("", utils::GetECVersion(NULL));
-
   // Should be able to parse and valid key value line.
-  EXPECT_EQ("12345", utils::GetECVersion("fw_version=12345"));
-  EXPECT_EQ("123456", utils::GetECVersion("b=1231a fw_version=123456 a=fasd2"));
-  EXPECT_EQ("12345", utils::GetECVersion("fw_version=12345"));
-  EXPECT_EQ("00VFA616", utils::GetECVersion(
+  EXPECT_EQ("12345", utils::ParseECVersion("fw_version=12345"));
+  EXPECT_EQ("123456", utils::ParseECVersion(
+      "b=1231a fw_version=123456 a=fasd2"));
+  EXPECT_EQ("12345", utils::ParseECVersion("fw_version=12345"));
+  EXPECT_EQ("00VFA616", utils::ParseECVersion(
       "vendor=\"sam\" fw_version=\"00VFA616\""));
 
   // For invalid entries, should return the empty string.
-  EXPECT_EQ("", utils::GetECVersion("b=1231a fw_version a=fasd2"));
+  EXPECT_EQ("", utils::ParseECVersion("b=1231a fw_version a=fasd2"));
 }
 
 TEST(UtilsTest, NormalizePathTest) {