diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index c37ce80f..1bcda64e 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
 
 S3method(as.tags,htmlwidget)
+S3method(getDependency,character)
+S3method(getDependency,htmlwidget)
 S3method(print,htmlwidget)
 S3method(print,suppress_viewer)
 export(JS)
diff --git a/R/htmlwidgets.R b/R/htmlwidgets.R
index 5a7ca032..3bfd50b9 100644
--- a/R/htmlwidgets.R
+++ b/R/htmlwidgets.R
@@ -206,9 +206,8 @@ toHTML <- function(x, standalone = FALSE, knitrOptions = NULL) {
       )
     }
   )
-  html <- htmltools::attachDependencies(html,
-    c(widget_dependencies(class(x)[1], attr(x, 'package')),
-      x$dependencies)
+  html <- htmltools::attachDependencies(
+    html, c(getDependency(x), x$dependencies)
   )
 
   htmltools::browsable(html)
@@ -234,10 +233,6 @@ widget_html <- function(name, package, id, style, class, inline = FALSE, ...){
   }
 }
 
-widget_dependencies <- function(name, package){
-  getDependency(name, package)
-}
-
 # Generates a <script type="application/json"> tag with the JSON-encoded data,
 # to be picked up by htmlwidgets.js for static rendering.
 widget_data <- function(x, id, ...){
@@ -386,7 +381,7 @@ shinyWidgetOutput <- function(outputId, name, width, height, package = name,
   )
 
   # attach dependencies
-  dependencies = widget_dependencies(name, package)
+  dependencies = getDependency(name, package)
   htmltools::attachDependencies(html, dependencies)
 }
 
diff --git a/R/utils.R b/R/utils.R
index 4cd2a8a4..c592e0bd 100644
--- a/R/utils.R
+++ b/R/utils.R
@@ -36,12 +36,22 @@ toJSON <- function(x) {
   structure(res, class = 'json')
 }
 
-#' Get js and css dependencies for  a htmlwidget
+#' Get js and css dependencies for an htmlwidget
 #'
-#' @param name name of the widget.
+#' @param name either an htmlwidget object or the name of a widget.
 #' @param package name of the package, defaults to the widget name.
 #' @export
 getDependency <- function(name, package = name){
+  UseMethod("getDependency")
+}
+
+#' @export
+getDependency.htmlwidget <- function(name, package = name){
+  getDependency.character(class(name)[1], package = attr(name, "package"))
+}
+
+#' @export
+getDependency.character <- function(name, package = name){
   config = sprintf("htmlwidgets/%s.yaml", name)
   jsfile = sprintf("htmlwidgets/%s.js", name)
 
diff --git a/man/getDependency.Rd b/man/getDependency.Rd
index eb5dd2bc..4590a73c 100644
--- a/man/getDependency.Rd
+++ b/man/getDependency.Rd
@@ -2,16 +2,16 @@
 % Please edit documentation in R/utils.R
 \name{getDependency}
 \alias{getDependency}
-\title{Get js and css dependencies for  a htmlwidget}
+\title{Get js and css dependencies for an htmlwidget}
 \usage{
 getDependency(name, package = name)
 }
 \arguments{
-\item{name}{name of the widget.}
+\item{name}{either an htmlwidget object or the name of a widget.}
 
 \item{package}{name of the package, defaults to the widget name.}
 }
 \description{
-Get js and css dependencies for  a htmlwidget
+Get js and css dependencies for an htmlwidget
 }