diff --git a/background.html b/background.html
index a795ee143..503b1fc11 100644
--- a/background.html
+++ b/background.html
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 <script src="lib/publicsuffixlist.min.js"></script>
 <script src="lib/yamd5.js"></script>
 <script src="js/background.js"></script>
+<script src="js/xal.js"></script>
 <script src="js/async.js"></script>
 <script src="js/liquid-dict.js"></script>
 <script src="js/utils.js"></script>
diff --git a/js/xal.js b/js/xal.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0e50debf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/js/xal.js
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+
+    µBlock - a Chromium browser extension to block requests.
+    Copyright (C) 2014 Raymond Hill
+
+    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/}.
+
+    Home: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock
+*/
+
+/* global chrome, µBlock */
+
+/******************************************************************************/
+
+µBlock.XAL = (function(){
+
+/******************************************************************************/
+
+var exports = {};
+
+/******************************************************************************/
+
+// Must read: https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=410868#c8
+
+// https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/issues/19
+// https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/issues/207
+// Since we may be called asynchronously, the tab id may not exist
+// anymore, so this ensures it does still exist.
+
+exports.setIcon = function(id, imgDict, overlayStr) {
+    var onIconReady = function() {
+        if ( chrome.runtime.lastError ) {
+            return;
+        }
+        chrome.browserAction.setBadgeText({ tabId: id, text: overlayStr });
+        if ( overlayStr !== '' ) {
+            chrome.browserAction.setBadgeBackgroundColor({ tabId: id, color: '#666' });
+        }
+    };
+    chrome.browserAction.setIcon({ tabId: id, path: imgDict }, onIconReady);
+};
+
+/******************************************************************************/
+
+return exports;
+
+/******************************************************************************/
+
+})();