diff --git a/doc/changelog.txt b/doc/changelog.txt
index c48d55ea..595e2259 100644
--- a/doc/changelog.txt
+++ b/doc/changelog.txt
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ Fixes:
 
 Features:
 - dns: Updated dnspython module from upstream version 1.8.1.
+- checking: Check hyperlinks of Word documents. Needs pywin32
+  installed.
 
 5.1 "Let the right one in" (released 04.08.2009)
 
diff --git a/doc/todo.txt b/doc/todo.txt
index a456850d..5e3268ed 100644
--- a/doc/todo.txt
+++ b/doc/todo.txt
@@ -1,9 +1,3 @@
-- [CHECKING] Parse Word files for hyperlinks (needs win32com)
-  app = CreateObject("Word.Application")
-  doc = app.Documents.Open("c:\test.doc")
-  for link in doc.Hyperlinks:
-    url = link.Address
-    name = link.TextToDisplay
 - [HTTP] Do not fall back to GET when no recursion is requested on
   single pages. This would allow to check pages even if robots.txt
   disallows to get the page content.
diff --git a/linkcheck/checker/const.py b/linkcheck/checker/const.py
index 46a8cb83..6cc34dd1 100644
--- a/linkcheck/checker/const.py
+++ b/linkcheck/checker/const.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: iso-8859-1 -*-
-# Copyright (C) 2000-2009 Bastian Kleineidam
+# Copyright (C) 2000-2010 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
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ PARSE_EXTENSIONS = {
     "opera": re.compile(r'/(?i)opera.adr$'), # opera bookmark file
     "css": re.compile(r'(?i)\.css$'), # CSS stylesheet
     "swf": re.compile(r'(?i)\.swf$'), # SWF file
+    "word": re.compile(r'(?i)\.docx?$'), # Word files
 }
 
 PARSE_MIMETYPES = (
@@ -148,6 +149,7 @@ PARSE_MIMETYPES = (
     "application/xhtml+xml",
     "text/css",
     "application/x-shockwave-flash",
+    "application/msword",
 )
 
 HTML_MIMETYPES = (
diff --git a/linkcheck/checker/fileurl.py b/linkcheck/checker/fileurl.py
index 7228ece0..789a678f 100644
--- a/linkcheck/checker/fileurl.py
+++ b/linkcheck/checker/fileurl.py
@@ -204,6 +204,10 @@ class FileUrl (urlbase.UrlBase):
             path = prepare_urlpath_for_nt(path)
         return fileutil.pathencode(urllib.url2pathname(path))
 
+    def get_temp_filename (self):
+        """Get filename for content to parse."""
+        return self.get_os_filename()
+
     def is_directory (self):
         """
         Check if file is a directory.
diff --git a/linkcheck/checker/httpurl.py b/linkcheck/checker/httpurl.py
index f09902bd..f6db157f 100644
--- a/linkcheck/checker/httpurl.py
+++ b/linkcheck/checker/httpurl.py
@@ -671,6 +671,8 @@ Use URL `%(newurl)s' instead for checking.""") % {
             self.parse_css()
         elif ctype == "application/x-shockwave-flash":
             self.parse_swf()
+        elif ctype == "application/msword":
+            self.parse_word()
 
     def get_robots_txt_url (self):
         """
diff --git a/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py b/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py
index 5e04dccd..5c3976f7 100644
--- a/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py
+++ b/linkcheck/checker/urlbase.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: iso-8859-1 -*-
-# Copyright (C) 2000-2009 Bastian Kleineidam
+# Copyright (C) 2000-2010 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
@@ -27,11 +27,13 @@ import time
 import errno
 import socket
 import select
+import tempfile
 
 from . import absolute_url, StoringHandler, get_url_from
 from ..cache import geoip
 from .. import (log, LOG_CHECK, LOG_CACHE, httputil, httplib2 as httplib,
-    strformat, LinkCheckerError, url as urlutil, trace, clamav, containers)
+    strformat, LinkCheckerError, url as urlutil, trace, clamav, containers,
+    winutil)
 from ..HtmlParser import htmlsax
 from ..htmlutil import linkparse, titleparse
 from .const import (WARN_URL_EFFECTIVE_URL, WARN_URL_UNICODE_DOMAIN,
@@ -909,6 +911,37 @@ class UrlBase (object):
                          parent_url=self.url)
             self.aggregate.urlqueue.put(url_data)
 
+    def parse_word (self):
+        """Parse a word file for hyperlinks."""
+        if not winutil.has_word():
+            return
+        filename = self.get_temp_filename()
+        # open word file and parse hyperlinks
+        try:
+            app = winutil.get_word_app()
+            try:
+                doc = winutil.open_word(app, filename)
+                try:
+                    for link in doc.Hyperlinks:
+                        url_data = get_url_from(link.Address,
+                                 self.recursion_level+1, self.aggregate,
+                                 parent_url=self.url, name=link.TextToDisplay)
+                        self.aggregate.urlqueue.put(url_data)
+                finally:
+                    winutil.close_wordfile(doc)
+            finally:
+                winutil.close_word_app(app)
+        except winutil.Error, msg:
+            log.warn(LOG_CHECK, "Error parsing word file: %s", msg)
+
+    def get_temp_filename (self):
+        """Get temporary filename for content to parse."""
+        # store content in temporary file
+        fd, filename = tempfile.mkstemp(suffix='.doc', prefix='lc_')
+        fp = os.fdopen(fd)
+        fp.write(self.get_content())
+        fp.close()
+
     def serialized (self):
         """
         Return serialized url check data as unicode string.
diff --git a/linkcheck/winutil.py b/linkcheck/winutil.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8fac483d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/linkcheck/winutil.py
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+# -*- coding: iso-8859-1 -*-
+# Copyright (C) 2010 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 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.
+try:
+    import win32com
+    import pythoncom
+    has_win32com = True
+    class Error (pythoncom.com_error):
+        """Raised on errors."""
+        pass
+except ImportError:
+    has_win32com = False
+    class Error (StandardError):
+        """Raised on errors."""
+        pass
+
+
+def init_win32com ():
+    """Initialize the win32com.client cache."""
+    import win32com.client
+    if win32com.client.gencache.is_readonly:
+        #allow gencache to create the cached wrapper objects
+        win32com.client.gencache.is_readonly = False
+        # under py2exe the call in gencache to __init__() does not happen
+        # so we use Rebuild() to force the creation of the gen_py folder
+        win32com.client.gencache.Rebuild()
+
+
+def _init ():
+    if has_win32com:
+        init_win32com()
+_init()
+
+
+
+_has_app_cache = {}
+def has_word ():
+    """Determine if Word is available on the current system."""
+    if not has_win32com:
+        return False
+    try:
+        import _winreg
+        key = _winreg.OpenKey(_winreg.HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, "Word.Application")
+        _winreg.CloseKey(key)
+        return True
+    except (EnvironmentError, ImportError):
+        pass
+    return False
+
+
+def get_word_app ():
+    """Return open Word.Application handle, or None on error."""
+    if not has_word():
+        return None
+    import win32com.client
+    app = win32com.client.gencache.EnsureDispatch("Word.Application")
+    app.Visible = False
+    return app
+
+
+def close_word_app (app):
+    app.Quit()
+
+
+def open_wordfile (app, filename):
+    return app.Documents.Open(filename)
+
+
+def close_wordfile (doc):
+    doc.Close()