diff --git a/lib/WebGUI.pm b/lib/WebGUI.pm
index 17d41123b..3195eeb68 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI.pm
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ use Apache2::RequestIO;
 use Apache2::RequestUtil ();
 use Apache2::ServerUtil ();
 use APR::Request::Apache2;
-use MIME::Base64;
+use MIME::Base64 ();
 use WebGUI::Config;
 use WebGUI::Pluggable;
 use WebGUI::Session;
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Asset/File.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Asset/File.pm
index a2b3e8d65..5c2f209a8 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Asset/File.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Asset/File.pm
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@ use WebGUI::Cache;
 use WebGUI::Storage;
 use WebGUI::SQL;
 use WebGUI::Utility;
-use FileHandle;
-
 
 
 =head1 NAME
@@ -536,15 +534,12 @@ sub www_edit {
 sub exportHtml_view {
 	my $self = shift;
 	my $path = $self->getStorageLocation->getPath($self->get('filename'));
-	my $fh = eval { FileHandle->new($path) };
-	defined($fh) or return "";
-	binmode $fh or ($fh->close, return "");
-	my $block;
-	while (read($fh, $block, 16384) > 0) {
-		$self->session->output->print($block, 1);
-	}
-	$fh->close;
-	return 'chunked';
+    open my $fh, '<:raw', $path or return "";
+    while ( read $fh, my $block, 16384 ) {
+        $self->session->output->print($block, 1);
+    }
+    close $fh;
+    return 'chunked';
 }
 
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/AssetExportHtml.pm b/lib/WebGUI/AssetExportHtml.pm
index a0256494a..9d725ac7f 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/AssetExportHtml.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/AssetExportHtml.pm
@@ -15,9 +15,8 @@ package WebGUI::Asset;
 =cut
 
 use strict;
-use File::Basename;
-use File::Path;
-use FileHandle;
+use File::Basename ();
+use File::Path ();
 use Path::Class;
 use Scalar::Util 'looks_like_number';
 use WebGUI::International;
@@ -92,7 +91,7 @@ sub exportCheckPath {
     # now that we know that it's defined and not an empty string, test if it exists.
     if(!-e $exportPath) {
         # it doesn't exist; let's try making it
-        eval { mkpath( [$exportPath] ) };
+        eval { File::Path::mkpath( [$exportPath] ) };
         if($@) {
             WebGUI::Error->throw(error => "can't create exportPath $exportPath");
         }
@@ -543,7 +542,7 @@ sub exportGetUrlAsPath {
         return Path::Class::File->new($exportPath, @pathComponents, $filename, $index);
     }
     else { # got a dot
-        my $extension = (fileparse($filename, qr/[^.]*$/))[2]; # get just the extension
+        my $extension = (File::Basename::fileparse($filename, qr/[^.]*$/))[2]; # get just the extension
         
         # check if the file type is recognised by apache. if it is, return it
         # as-is. if not, slap on the directory separator, $index, and return
@@ -748,7 +747,7 @@ sub exportWriteFile {
     my $dest = $self->exportGetUrlAsPath;
     my $parent = $dest->parent;
 
-    eval { mkpath($parent->absolute->stringify) };
+    eval { File::Path::mkpath($parent->absolute->stringify) };
     if($@) {
         WebGUI::Error->throw(error => "could not make directory " . $parent->absolute->stringify);
     }
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/AssetPackage.pm b/lib/WebGUI/AssetPackage.pm
index 8afbf295e..ae1cdded6 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/AssetPackage.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/AssetPackage.pm
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ package WebGUI::Asset;
 =cut
 
 use strict;
-use JSON;
+use JSON ();
 use WebGUI::Storage;
 
 =head1 NAME
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Cache.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Cache.pm
index ba77de8d7..2dc94f012 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Cache.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Cache.pm
@@ -15,12 +15,11 @@ package WebGUI::Cache;
 =cut
 
 use strict;
-use File::Path;
+use File::Path ();
 use HTTP::Headers;
 use HTTP::Request;
 use LWP::UserAgent;
 use Digest::MD5;
-use Encode;
 
 =head1 NAME
 
@@ -92,7 +91,7 @@ Flushes the caching system. Must be overridden.
 
 sub flush {
 	my $self = shift;
-	rmtree($self->session->config->get("uploadsPath")."/temp");
+	File::Path::rmtree($self->session->config->get("uploadsPath")."/temp");
 }
 
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -131,7 +130,6 @@ A subdivider to store this cache under. When building your own cache plug-in def
 =cut
 
 sub new {
-	my $cache;
 	my $class = shift;
 	my $session = shift;
 	if ($session->config->get("cacheType") eq "WebGUI::Cache::Database") {
@@ -170,7 +168,8 @@ sub parseKey {
     }
     foreach my $part (@key) {
         # convert to octets, then md5 them
-        $part = Digest::MD5::md5_base64(Encode::encode_utf8($part));
+        utf8::encode($part);
+        $part = Digest::MD5::md5_base64($part);
         $part =~ tr{/}{-};
     }
     return join('/', @key);
@@ -185,8 +184,7 @@ Returns a reference to the current session.
 =cut
 
 sub session {
-	my $self = shift;
-	return $self->{_session};
+    $_[0]->{_session};
 }
 
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Cache/FileCache.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Cache/FileCache.pm
index 06f378c50..41544e5b0 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Cache/FileCache.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Cache/FileCache.pm
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@ package WebGUI::Cache::FileCache;
 =cut
 
 use strict;
-use Storable qw(nstore retrieve);
-use File::Path;
-use File::Find;
+use Storable ();
+use File::Path ();
+use File::Find ();
 
 our @ISA = qw(WebGUI::Cache);
 
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ sub delete {
 	my $self = shift;
 	my $folder = $self->getFolder;
 	if (-e $folder) {
-		rmtree($folder);
+		File::Path::rmtree($folder);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ sub deleteChunk {
 	my $self = shift;
 	my $folder = $self->getNamespaceRoot."/".$self->parseKey(shift);
 	if (-e $folder) {
-		rmtree($folder);
+		File::Path::rmtree($folder);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ sub flush {
 	$self->SUPER::flush();
 	my $folder = $self->getNamespaceRoot;
 	if (-e $folder) {
-		rmtree($folder);
+		File::Path::rmtree($folder);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -110,9 +110,9 @@ sub get {
 	if (-e $folder."/expires" && -e $folder."/cache" && open(my $FILE,"<",$folder."/expires")) {
 		my $expires = <$FILE>;
 		close($FILE);
-		return undef if ($expires < $self->session->datetime->time());
+		return undef if ($expires < time);
 		my $value;
-		eval {$value = retrieve($folder."/cache")};
+		eval {$value = Storable::retrieve($folder."/cache")};
 		if (ref $value eq "SCALAR") {
 			return $$value;
 		} else {
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ sub getNamespaceRoot {
 		$root .= "/WebGUICache";
 	}
 	$root .= "/".$self->{_namespace};
-	return $root;	
+	return $root;
 }
 
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -167,24 +167,29 @@ Returns the size (in bytes) of the current cache under this namespace. Consequen
 =cut
 
 sub getNamespaceSize {
-        my $self = shift;
-        my $expiresModifier = shift || 0;
-        $self->session->stow->set("cacheSize", 0);
-        File::Find::find({no_chdir=>1, wanted=> sub {
-                                return undef unless $File::Find::name =~ m/^(.*)expires$/;
-                                my $dir = $1;
-                                if (open(my $FILE,"<",$dir."/expires")) {
-                                        my $expires = <$FILE>;
-                                        close($FILE);
-                                        if ($expires <$self->session->datetime->time()+$expiresModifier) {
-                                                rmtree($dir);
-                                        } else {
-                                                $self->session->stow->set("cacheSize", $self->session->stow->get("cacheSize") + -s $dir.'cache');
-                                        }
-                                }
-                        }
-                }, $self->getNamespaceRoot);
-        return $self->session->stow->get("cacheSize");
+    my $self = shift;
+    my $expiresModifier = shift || 0;
+    my $cacheSize = 0;
+    File::Find::find({
+        no_chdir => 1,
+        wanted => sub {
+            return
+                unless $File::Find::name =~ m/expires$/;
+            if ( open my $FILE, "<", $File::Find::name ) {
+                my $expires = <$FILE>;
+                close $FILE;
+                if ($expires < time + $expiresModifier) {
+                    File::Path::rmtree($File::Find::dir);
+                    $File::Find::prune = 1;
+                    return
+                }
+                else {
+                    $cacheSize += -s $File::Find::dir.'/cache';
+                }
+            }
+        },
+    }, $self->getNamespaceRoot);
+    return $cacheSize;
 }
 
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -241,7 +246,7 @@ sub set {
 	umask(0000);
 	my $path = $self->getFolder();
 	unless (-e $path) {
-		eval {mkpath($path,0)};
+		eval {File::Path::mkpath($path,0)};
 		if ($@) {
 			$self->session->errorHandler->error("Couldn't create cache folder: ".$path." : ".$@);
 			return undef;
@@ -253,10 +258,10 @@ sub set {
 	} else {
 		$value = $content;
 	}
-	nstore($value, $path."/cache");
-	open(my $FILE,">",$path."/expires");
-	print $FILE $self->session->datetime->time()+$ttl;
-	close($FILE);
+	Storable::nstore($value, $path."/cache");
+	open my $FILE, ">", $path."/expires";
+	print $FILE time + $ttl;
+	close $FILE;
 	umask($oldumask);
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Content/AjaxI18N.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Content/AjaxI18N.pm
index 8a744750b..58effaa4d 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Content/AjaxI18N.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Content/AjaxI18N.pm
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ package WebGUI::Content::AjaxI18N;
 =cut
 
 use strict;
-use JSON;
+use JSON ();
 
 =head1 NAME
 
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Session/Stow.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Session/Stow.pm
index 73b9f249a..f33fe89c7 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Session/Stow.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Session/Stow.pm
@@ -169,8 +169,7 @@ Returns a reference to the current session.
 =cut
 
 sub session {
-	my $self = shift;
-	return $self->{_session};
+    $_[0]->{_session};
 }
 
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------