diff --git a/doc/changelog.txt b/doc/changelog.txt
index e0b0e13..bc92b25 100644
--- a/doc/changelog.txt
+++ b/doc/changelog.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 * Added support for the lbzip2 program handling BZIP2 archives.
 * Added support for the plzip program handling LZIP archives.
 * Prevent overwriting the same file with repack.
+* Support extraction of BZIP2 files with the Python bz2 module.
+
 
 0.15 "Contraband" (released 8.4.2012)
 
diff --git a/patoolib/__init__.py b/patoolib/__init__.py
index b705b9b..d4df88c 100644
--- a/patoolib/__init__.py
+++ b/patoolib/__init__.py
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ ArchivePrograms = {
     },
     'bzip2': {
         None: ('7z', '7za'),
-        'extract': ('pbzip2', 'lbzip2', 'bzip2'),
+        'extract': ('pbzip2', 'lbzip2', 'bzip2', 'pybz2'),
         'test': ('pbzip2', 'lbzip2', 'bzip2'),
         'create': ('pbzip2', 'lbzip2', 'bzip2'),
         'list': ('echo',),
@@ -452,7 +452,11 @@ def _handle_archive (archive, command, *args, **kwargs):
         archive = util.tmpfile(dir=os.path.dirname(archive), suffix=".arc")
     try:
         cmdlist = get_archive_cmdlist(archive, encoding, program, *args, **cmd_kwargs)
-        run_archive_cmdlist(cmdlist)
+        if cmdlist:
+            # an empty command list means the get_archive_cmdlist() function
+            # already handled the command (eg. when it's a builting Python
+            # function)
+            run_archive_cmdlist(cmdlist)
         if command == 'extract':
             if do_cleanup_outdir:
                 target, msg = cleanup_outdir(cmd_kwargs["outdir"])
diff --git a/patoolib/programs/pybz2.py b/patoolib/programs/pybz2.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fa0c88d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/patoolib/programs/pybz2.py
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright (C) 2012 Bastian Kleineidam
+#
+# 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 3 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, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+"""Archive commands for the bz2 Python module."""
+from patoolib import util
+try:
+    # try external bz2file module with multi-stream support
+    import bz2file as bz2
+except ImportError:
+    import bz2
+
+READ_SIZE_BYTES = 1024*1024
+
+def extract_bzip2 (archive, encoding, cmd, **kwargs):
+    """Extract a BZIP2 archive with the bz2 Python module functionality."""
+    verbose = kwargs['verbose']
+    if verbose:
+        util.log_info('extracting %s...' % archive)
+    targetname = util.get_single_outfile(kwargs['outdir'], archive)
+    bz2file = bz2.BZ2File(archive)
+    try:
+        targetfile = open(targetname, 'wb')
+        try:
+            data = bz2file.read(READ_SIZE_BYTES)
+            while data:
+                targetfile.write(data)
+                data = bz2file.read(READ_SIZE_BYTES)
+        finally:
+            targetfile.close()
+    finally:
+        bz2file.close()
+    if verbose:
+        util.log_info('... extracted to %s' % targetname)
+    return None
diff --git a/patoolib/util.py b/patoolib/util.py
index 3a9f78d..f362c48 100644
--- a/patoolib/util.py
+++ b/patoolib/util.py
@@ -332,9 +332,17 @@ def stripext (filename):
 def get_single_outfile (directory, archive):
     """Get output filename if archive is in a single file format like gzip."""
     outfile = os.path.join(directory, stripext(archive))
-    if archive == outfile:
+    if is_same_filename(archive, outfile):
         # prevent overwriting the archive itself
         outfile += ".raw"
+    if os.path.exists(outfile):
+        # prevent overwriting existing files
+        i = 1
+        newfile = "%s%d" % (outfile, i)
+        while os.path.exists(newfile):
+            newfile = "%s%d" % (outfile, i)
+            i += 1
+        outfile = newfile
     return outfile
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_archives.py b/tests/test_archives.py
index 77922c0..d863112 100644
--- a/tests/test_archives.py
+++ b/tests/test_archives.py
@@ -103,6 +103,10 @@ class TestArchives (ArchiveTest):
         self.archive_test('t .bz2')
         self.archive_create('t .bz2', singlefile=True)
 
+    def test_pybz2 (self):
+        self.program = 'pybz2'
+        self.archive_extract('t .bz2')
+
     @needs_program('pbzip2')
     def test_pbzip2 (self):
         self.program = 'pbzip2'
diff --git a/tests/test_util.py b/tests/test_util.py
index 3df2891..94a836e 100644
--- a/tests/test_util.py
+++ b/tests/test_util.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-# Copyright (C) 2010-2011 Bastian Kleineidam
+# Copyright (C) 2010-2012 Bastian Kleineidam
 #
 # 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