diff --git a/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0012.py b/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0012.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 01fb60a8..00000000
--- a/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0012.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,122 +0,0 @@
-"""
-    SleekXMPP: The Sleek XMPP Library
-    Copyright (C) 2010 Nathanael C. Fritz
-    This file is part of SleekXMPP.
-
-    See the file LICENSE for copying permission.
-"""
-
-from datetime import datetime
-import logging
-
-from sleekxmpp.plugins import BasePlugin, register_plugin
-from sleekxmpp import Iq
-from sleekxmpp.xmlstream.handler.callback import Callback
-from sleekxmpp.xmlstream.matcher.xpath import MatchXPath
-from sleekxmpp.xmlstream import ElementBase, ET, JID, register_stanza_plugin
-
-
-log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
-
-
-class LastActivity(ElementBase):
-    name = 'query'
-    namespace = 'jabber:iq:last'
-    plugin_attrib = 'last_activity'
-    interfaces = set(('seconds', 'status'))
-
-    def get_seconds(self):
-        return int(self._get_attr('seconds'))
-
-    def set_seconds(self, value):
-        self._set_attr('seconds', str(value))
-
-    def get_status(self):
-        return self.xml.text
-
-    def set_status(self, value):
-        self.xml.text = str(value)
-
-    def del_status(self):
-        self.xml.text = ''
-
-
-class XEP_0012(BasePlugin):
-
-    """
-    XEP-0012 Last Activity
-    """
-
-    name = 'xep_0012'
-    description = 'XEP-0012: Last Activity'
-    dependencies = set(['xep_0030'])
-
-    def plugin_init(self):
-        self.xep = "0012"
-
-        self.xmpp.registerHandler(
-            Callback('Last Activity',
-                 MatchXPath('{%s}iq/{%s}query' % (self.xmpp.default_ns,
-                                  LastActivity.namespace)),
-                 self.handle_last_activity_query))
-        register_stanza_plugin(Iq, LastActivity)
-
-        self.xmpp.add_event_handler('last_activity_request', self.handle_last_activity)
-
-        if self.xmpp.is_component:
-            # We are a component, so we track the uptime
-            self.xmpp.add_event_handler("session_start", self._reset_uptime)
-            self._start_datetime = datetime.now()
-        self.xmpp.plugin['xep_0030'].add_feature('jabber:iq:last')
-
-    def _reset_uptime(self, event):
-        self._start_datetime = datetime.now()
-
-    def handle_last_activity_query(self, iq):
-        if iq['type'] == 'get':
-            log.debug("Last activity requested by %s", iq['from'])
-            self.xmpp.event('last_activity_request', iq)
-        elif iq['type'] == 'result':
-            log.debug("Last activity result from %s", iq['from'])
-            self.xmpp.event('last_activity', iq)
-
-    def handle_last_activity(self, iq):
-        jid = iq['from']
-
-        if self.xmpp.is_component:
-            # Send the uptime
-            result = LastActivity()
-            td = (datetime.now() - self._start_datetime)
-            result['seconds'] = td.seconds + td.days * 24 * 3600
-            reply = iq.reply().setPayload(result.xml).send()
-        else:
-            barejid = JID(jid).bare
-            if barejid in self.xmpp.roster and ( self.xmpp.roster[barejid]['subscription'] in ('from', 'both') or
-                                                 barejid == self.xmpp.boundjid.bare ):
-                # We don't know how to calculate it
-                iq.reply().error().setPayload(iq['last_activity'].xml)
-                iq['error']['code'] = '503'
-                iq['error']['type'] = 'cancel'
-                iq['error']['condition'] = 'service-unavailable'
-                iq.send()
-            else:
-                iq.reply().error().setPayload(iq['last_activity'].xml)
-                iq['error']['code'] = '403'
-                iq['error']['type'] = 'auth'
-                iq['error']['condition'] = 'forbidden'
-                iq.send()
-
-    def get_last_activity(self, jid):
-        """Query the LastActivity of jid and return it in seconds"""
-        iq = self.xmpp.makeIqGet()
-        query = LastActivity()
-        iq.append(query.xml)
-        iq.attrib['to'] = jid
-        iq.attrib['from'] = self.xmpp.boundjid.full
-        id = iq.get('id')
-        result = iq.send()
-        return result['last_activity']['seconds']
-
-
-xep_0012 = XEP_0012
-register_plugin(XEP_0012)
diff --git a/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0012/__init__.py b/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0012/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6b778fc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0012/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+"""
+    SleekXMPP: The Sleek XMPP Library
+    Copyright (C) 2012 Nathanael C. Fritz, Lance J.T. Stout
+    This file is part of SleekXMPP.
+
+    See the file LICENSE for copying permission.
+"""
+
+from sleekxmpp.plugins.base import register_plugin
+
+from sleekxmpp.plugins.xep_0012.stanza import LastActivity
+from sleekxmpp.plugins.xep_0012.last_activity import XEP_0012
+
+
+register_plugin(XEP_0012)
+
+
+# Retain some backwards compatibility
+xep_0004 = XEP_0012
diff --git a/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0012/last_activity.py b/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0012/last_activity.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b71b6907
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0012/last_activity.py
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+"""
+    SleekXMPP: The Sleek XMPP Library
+    Copyright (C) 2012 Nathanael C. Fritz, Lance J.T. Stout
+    This file is part of SleekXMPP.
+
+    See the file LICENSE for copying permission.
+"""
+
+import logging
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
+
+from sleekxmpp.plugins import BasePlugin, register_plugin
+from sleekxmpp import Iq
+from sleekxmpp.exceptions import XMPPError
+from sleekxmpp.xmlstream import JID, register_stanza_plugin
+from sleekxmpp.xmlstream.handler import Callback
+from sleekxmpp.xmlstream.matcher import StanzaPath
+from sleekxmpp.plugins.xep_0012 import stanza, LastActivity
+
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class XEP_0012(BasePlugin):
+
+    """
+    XEP-0012 Last Activity
+    """
+
+    name = 'xep_0012'
+    description = 'XEP-0012: Last Activity'
+    dependencies = set(['xep_0030'])
+    stanza = stanza
+
+    def plugin_init(self):
+        register_stanza_plugin(Iq, LastActivity)
+
+        self._last_activities = {}
+
+        self.xmpp.registerHandler(
+            Callback('Last Activity',
+                 StanzaPath('iq@type=get/last_activity'),
+                 self._handle_get_last_activity))
+
+        self.xmpp.plugin['xep_0030'].add_feature('jabber:iq:last')
+
+        self.api.register(self._default_get_last_activity,
+                'get_last_activity',
+                default=True)
+        self.api.register(self._default_set_last_activity,
+                'set_last_activity',
+                default=True)
+        self.api.register(self._default_del_last_activity,
+                'del_last_activity',
+                default=True)
+
+    def begin_idle(self, jid=None, status=None):
+        self.set_last_activity(jid, 0, status)
+
+    def end_idle(self, jid=None):
+        self.del_last_activity(jid)
+
+    def start_uptime(self, status=None):
+        self.set_last_activity(jid, 0, status)
+
+    def set_last_activity(self, jid=None, seconds=None, status=None):
+        self.api['set_last_activity'](jid, args={
+            'seconds': seconds,
+            'status': status})
+
+    def del_last_activity(self, jid):
+        self.api['del_last_activity'](jid)
+
+    def get_last_activity(self, jid, local=False, ifrom=None, block=True,
+                          timeout=None, callback=None):
+        if jid is not None and not isinstance(jid, JID):
+            jid = JID(jid)
+
+        if self.xmpp.is_component:
+            if jid.domain == self.xmpp.boundjid.domain:
+                local = True
+        else:
+            if str(jid) == str(self.xmpp.boundjid):
+                local = True
+        jid = jid.full
+
+        if local or jid in (None, ''):
+            log.debug("Looking up local last activity data for %s", jid)
+            return self.api['get_last_activity'](jid, None, ifrom, None)
+
+        iq = self.xmpp.Iq()
+        iq['from'] = ifrom
+        iq['to'] = jid
+        iq['type'] = 'get'
+        iq.enable('last_activity')
+        return iq.send(timeout=timeout,
+                       block=block,
+                       callback=callback)
+
+    def _handle_get_last_activity(self, iq):
+        log.debug("Received last activity query from " + \
+                  "<%s> to <%s>.", iq['from'], iq['to'])
+        reply = self.api['get_last_activity'](iq['to'], None, iq['from'], iq)
+        reply.send()
+
+    # =================================================================
+    # Default in-memory implementations for storing last activity data.
+    # =================================================================
+
+    def _default_set_last_activity(self, jid, node, ifrom, data):
+        seconds = data.get('seconds', None)
+        if seconds is None:
+            seconds = 0
+
+        status = data.get('status', None)
+        if status is None:
+            status = ''
+
+        self._last_activities[jid] = {
+            'seconds': datetime.now() - timedelta(seconds=seconds),
+            'status': status}
+
+    def _default_del_last_activity(self, jid, node, ifrom, data):
+        if jid in self._last_activities:
+            del self._last_activities[jid]
+
+    def _default_get_last_activity(self, jid, node, ifrom, iq):
+        if not isinstance(iq, Iq):
+            reply = self.xmpp.Iq()
+        else:
+            iq.reply()
+            reply = iq
+
+        if jid not in self._last_activities:
+            raise XMPPError('service-unavailable')
+
+        bare = JID(jid).bare
+
+        if bare != self.xmpp.boundjid.bare:
+            if bare in self.xmpp.roster[jid]:
+                sub = self.xmpp.roster[jid][bare]['subscription']
+                if sub not in ('from', 'both'):
+                    raise XMPPError('forbidden')
+
+        td = datetime.now() - self._last_activities[jid]['seconds']
+        seconds = td.seconds + td.days * 24 * 3600
+        status = self._last_activities[jid]['status']
+
+        reply['last_activity']['seconds'] = seconds
+        reply['last_activity']['status'] = status
+
+        return reply
diff --git a/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0012/stanza.py b/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0012/stanza.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..079865b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0012/stanza.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+"""
+    SleekXMPP: The Sleek XMPP Library
+    Copyright (C) 2012 Nathanael C. Fritz, Lance J.T. Stout
+    This file is part of SleekXMPP.
+
+    See the file LICENSE for copying permission.
+"""
+
+from sleekxmpp.xmlstream import ElementBase
+
+
+class LastActivity(ElementBase):
+
+    name = 'query'
+    namespace = 'jabber:iq:last'
+    plugin_attrib = 'last_activity'
+    interfaces = set(('seconds', 'status'))
+
+    def get_seconds(self):
+        return int(self._get_attr('seconds'))
+
+    def set_seconds(self, value):
+        self._set_attr('seconds', str(value))
+
+    def get_status(self):
+        return self.xml.text
+
+    def set_status(self, value):
+        self.xml.text = str(value)
+
+    def del_status(self):
+        self.xml.text = ''