diff --git a/include/qpdf/QUtil.hh b/include/qpdf/QUtil.hh
index bcedd4d3..96c0530b 100644
--- a/include/qpdf/QUtil.hh
+++ b/include/qpdf/QUtil.hh
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include <qpdf/Types.h>
 #include <string>
 #include <list>
+#include <vector>
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <time.h>
@@ -220,6 +221,11 @@ namespace QUtil
 
     QPDF_DLL
     bool is_number(char const*);
+
+    // This method parses the numeric range syntax used by the qpdf
+    // command-line tool. May throw std::runtime_error.
+    QPDF_DLL
+    std::vector<int> parse_numrange(char const* range, int max);
 };
 
 #endif // QUTIL_HH
diff --git a/libqpdf/QUtil.cc b/libqpdf/QUtil.cc
index 56bac386..44ffec7f 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QUtil.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QUtil.cc
@@ -718,3 +718,177 @@ QUtil::strcasecmp(char const *s1, char const *s2)
     return ::strcasecmp(s1, s2);
 #endif
 }
+
+static int maybe_from_end(int num, bool from_end, int max)
+{
+    if (from_end)
+    {
+        if (num > max)
+        {
+            num = 0;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            num = max + 1 - num;
+        }
+    }
+    return num;
+}
+
+std::vector<int>
+QUtil::parse_numrange(char const* range, int max)
+{
+    std::vector<int> result;
+    char const* p = range;
+    try
+    {
+        std::vector<int> work;
+        static int const comma = -1;
+        static int const dash = -2;
+
+        enum { st_top,
+               st_in_number,
+               st_after_number } state = st_top;
+        bool last_separator_was_dash = false;
+        int cur_number = 0;
+        bool from_end = false;
+        while (*p)
+        {
+            char ch = *p;
+            if (isdigit(ch))
+            {
+                if (! ((state == st_top) || (state == st_in_number)))
+                {
+                    throw std::runtime_error("digit not expected");
+                }
+                state = st_in_number;
+                cur_number *= 10;
+                cur_number += (ch - '0');
+            }
+            else if (ch == 'z')
+            {
+                // z represents max
+                if (! (state == st_top))
+                {
+                    throw std::runtime_error("z not expected");
+                }
+                state = st_after_number;
+                cur_number = max;
+            }
+            else if (ch == 'r')
+            {
+                if (! (state == st_top))
+                {
+                    throw std::runtime_error("r not expected");
+                }
+                state = st_in_number;
+                from_end = true;
+            }
+            else if ((ch == ',') || (ch == '-'))
+            {
+                if (! ((state == st_in_number) || (state == st_after_number)))
+                {
+                    throw std::runtime_error("unexpected separator");
+                }
+                cur_number = maybe_from_end(cur_number, from_end, max);
+                work.push_back(cur_number);
+                cur_number = 0;
+                from_end = false;
+                if (ch == ',')
+                {
+                    state = st_top;
+                    last_separator_was_dash = false;
+                    work.push_back(comma);
+                }
+                else if (ch == '-')
+                {
+                    if (last_separator_was_dash)
+                    {
+                        throw std::runtime_error("unexpected dash");
+                    }
+                    state = st_top;
+                    last_separator_was_dash = true;
+                    work.push_back(dash);
+                }
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                throw std::runtime_error("unexpected character");
+            }
+            ++p;
+        }
+        if ((state == st_in_number) || (state == st_after_number))
+        {
+            cur_number = maybe_from_end(cur_number, from_end, max);
+            work.push_back(cur_number);
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            throw std::runtime_error("number expected");
+        }
+
+        p = 0;
+        for (size_t i = 0; i < work.size(); i += 2)
+        {
+            int num = work.at(i);
+            // max == 0 means we don't know the max and are just
+            // testing for valid syntax.
+            if ((max > 0) && ((num < 1) || (num > max)))
+            {
+                throw std::runtime_error(
+                    "number " + QUtil::int_to_string(num) + " out of range");
+            }
+            if (i == 0)
+            {
+                result.push_back(work.at(i));
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                int separator = work.at(i-1);
+                if (separator == comma)
+                {
+                    result.push_back(num);
+                }
+                else if (separator == dash)
+                {
+                    int lastnum = result.back();
+                    if (num > lastnum)
+                    {
+                        for (int j = lastnum + 1; j <= num; ++j)
+                        {
+                            result.push_back(j);
+                        }
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        for (int j = lastnum - 1; j >= num; --j)
+                        {
+                            result.push_back(j);
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    throw std::logic_error(
+                        "INTERNAL ERROR parsing numeric range");
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    catch (std::runtime_error const& e)
+    {
+        std::string message;
+        if (p)
+        {
+            message = "error at * in numeric range " +
+                std::string(range, p - range) + "*" + p + ": " + e.what();
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            message = "error in numeric range " +
+                std::string(range) + ": " + e.what();
+        }
+        throw std::runtime_error(message);
+    }
+    return result;
+}
diff --git a/libtests/build.mk b/libtests/build.mk
index 7143eb56..214bd17c 100644
--- a/libtests/build.mk
+++ b/libtests/build.mk
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ BINS_libtests = \
 	json \
 	lzw \
 	md5 \
+	numrange \
 	pointer_holder \
 	predictors \
 	qutil \
diff --git a/libtests/numrange.cc b/libtests/numrange.cc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6cbb90ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libtests/numrange.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#include <qpdf/QUtil.hh>
+#include <iostream>
+
+static void test_numrange(char const* range)
+{
+    if (range == 0)
+    {
+        std::cout << "null" << std::endl;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        std::vector<int> result = QUtil::parse_numrange(range, 15);
+        std::cout << "numeric range " << range << " ->";
+        for (std::vector<int>::iterator iter = result.begin();
+             iter != result.end(); ++iter)
+        {
+            std::cout << " " << *iter;
+        }
+        std::cout << std::endl;
+    }
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char* argv[])
+{
+    try
+    {
+        test_numrange(argv[1]);
+    }
+    catch (std::exception& e)
+    {
+	std::cout << e.what() << std::endl;
+        return 2;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/libtests/qtest/numrange.test b/libtests/qtest/numrange.test
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9acf6ea4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libtests/qtest/numrange.test
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env perl
+require 5.008;
+use warnings;
+use strict;
+
+require TestDriver;
+
+my $td = new TestDriver('numrange');
+
+my @nrange_tests = (
+    [",5",
+     "error at * in numeric range *,5: unexpected separator",
+     2],
+    ["4,,5",
+     "error at * in numeric range 4,*,5: unexpected separator",
+     2],
+    ["4,5,",
+     "error at * in numeric range 4,5,*: number expected",
+     2],
+    ["z1,",
+     "error at * in numeric range z*1,: digit not expected",
+     2],
+    ["1z,",
+     "error at * in numeric range 1*z,: z not expected",
+     2],
+    ["1-5?",
+     "error at * in numeric range 1-5*?: unexpected character",
+     2],
+    ["1-30",
+     "error in numeric range 1-30: number 30 out of range",
+     2],
+    ["1-10,0,5",
+     "error in numeric range 1-10,0,5: number 0 out of range",
+     2],
+    ["1-10,1234,5",
+     "error in numeric range 1-10,1234,5: number 1234 out of range",
+     2],
+    ["1,r,3",
+     "error in numeric range 1,r,3: number 16 out of range",
+     2],
+    ["1,r16,3",
+     "error in numeric range 1,r16,3: number 0 out of range",
+     2],
+    ["1,3,5-10,z-13,13,9,z,2,r2-r4",
+     "numeric range 1,3,5-10,z-13,13,9,z,2,r2-r4" .
+     " -> 1 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 15 14 13 13 9 15 2 14 13 12",
+     0],
+    ["r1-r15", # r\d+ at end
+     "numeric range r1-r15" .
+     " -> 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1",
+     0],
+    );
+foreach my $d (@nrange_tests)
+{
+    my ($range, $output, $status) = @$d;
+    $td->runtest("numeric range $range",
+                 {$td->COMMAND => ['numrange', $range],
+                  $td->FILTER => "grep 'numeric range'"},
+                 {$td->STRING => $output . "\n", $td->EXIT_STATUS => $status},
+                 $td->NORMALIZE_NEWLINES);
+}
+
+$td->report(scalar(@nrange_tests));
diff --git a/qpdf/qpdf.cc b/qpdf/qpdf.cc
index 46b984bc..b2945419 100644
--- a/qpdf/qpdf.cc
+++ b/qpdf/qpdf.cc
@@ -635,180 +635,25 @@ static void show_encryption(QPDF& pdf, Options& o)
     }
 }
 
-static int maybe_from_end(int num, bool from_end, int max)
-{
-    if (from_end)
-    {
-        if (num > max)
-        {
-            num = 0;
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            num = max + 1 - num;
-        }
-    }
-    return num;
-}
-
 static std::vector<int> parse_numrange(char const* range, int max,
                                        bool throw_error = false)
 {
-    std::vector<int> result;
-    char const* p = range;
     try
     {
-        std::vector<int> work;
-        static int const comma = -1;
-        static int const dash = -2;
-
-        enum { st_top,
-               st_in_number,
-               st_after_number } state = st_top;
-        bool last_separator_was_dash = false;
-        int cur_number = 0;
-        bool from_end = false;
-        while (*p)
-        {
-            char ch = *p;
-            if (isdigit(ch))
-            {
-                if (! ((state == st_top) || (state == st_in_number)))
-                {
-                    throw std::runtime_error("digit not expected");
-                }
-                state = st_in_number;
-                cur_number *= 10;
-                cur_number += (ch - '0');
-            }
-            else if (ch == 'z')
-            {
-                // z represents max
-                if (! (state == st_top))
-                {
-                    throw std::runtime_error("z not expected");
-                }
-                state = st_after_number;
-                cur_number = max;
-            }
-            else if (ch == 'r')
-            {
-                if (! (state == st_top))
-                {
-                    throw std::runtime_error("r not expected");
-                }
-                state = st_in_number;
-                from_end = true;
-            }
-            else if ((ch == ',') || (ch == '-'))
-            {
-                if (! ((state == st_in_number) || (state == st_after_number)))
-                {
-                    throw std::runtime_error("unexpected separator");
-                }
-                cur_number = maybe_from_end(cur_number, from_end, max);
-                work.push_back(cur_number);
-                cur_number = 0;
-                from_end = false;
-                if (ch == ',')
-                {
-                    state = st_top;
-                    last_separator_was_dash = false;
-                    work.push_back(comma);
-                }
-                else if (ch == '-')
-                {
-                    if (last_separator_was_dash)
-                    {
-                        throw std::runtime_error("unexpected dash");
-                    }
-                    state = st_top;
-                    last_separator_was_dash = true;
-                    work.push_back(dash);
-                }
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                throw std::runtime_error("unexpected character");
-            }
-            ++p;
-        }
-        if ((state == st_in_number) || (state == st_after_number))
-        {
-            cur_number = maybe_from_end(cur_number, from_end, max);
-            work.push_back(cur_number);
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            throw std::runtime_error("number expected");
-        }
-
-        p = 0;
-        for (size_t i = 0; i < work.size(); i += 2)
-        {
-            int num = work.at(i);
-            // max == 0 means we don't know the max and are just
-            // testing for valid syntax.
-            if ((max > 0) && ((num < 1) || (num > max)))
-            {
-                throw std::runtime_error(
-                    "number " + QUtil::int_to_string(num) + " out of range");
-            }
-            if (i == 0)
-            {
-                result.push_back(work.at(i));
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                int separator = work.at(i-1);
-                if (separator == comma)
-                {
-                    result.push_back(num);
-                }
-                else if (separator == dash)
-                {
-                    int lastnum = result.back();
-                    if (num > lastnum)
-                    {
-                        for (int j = lastnum + 1; j <= num; ++j)
-                        {
-                            result.push_back(j);
-                        }
-                    }
-                    else
-                    {
-                        for (int j = lastnum - 1; j >= num; --j)
-                        {
-                            result.push_back(j);
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
-                else
-                {
-                    throw std::logic_error(
-                        "INTERNAL ERROR parsing numeric range");
-                }
-            }
-        }
+        return QUtil::parse_numrange(range, max);
     }
-    catch (std::runtime_error const& e)
+    catch (std::runtime_error& e)
     {
         if (throw_error)
         {
-            throw e;
-        }
-        if (p)
-        {
-            usage("error at * in numeric range " +
-                  std::string(range, p - range) + "*" + p + ": " + e.what());
+            throw(e);
         }
         else
         {
-            usage("error in numeric range " +
-                  std::string(range) + ": " + e.what());
+            usage(e.what());
         }
     }
-    return result;
+    return std::vector<int>();
 }
 
 static void
@@ -1213,25 +1058,6 @@ parse_pages_options(
     return result;
 }
 
-static void test_numrange(char const* range)
-{
-    if (range == 0)
-    {
-        std::cout << "null" << std::endl;
-    }
-    else
-    {
-        std::vector<int> result = parse_numrange(range, 15);
-        std::cout << "numeric range " << range << " ->";
-        for (std::vector<int>::iterator iter = result.begin();
-             iter != result.end(); ++iter)
-        {
-            std::cout << " " << *iter;
-        }
-        std::cout << std::endl;
-    }
-}
-
 QPDFPageData::QPDFPageData(std::string const& filename,
                            QPDF* qpdf,
                            char const* range) :
@@ -1429,14 +1255,7 @@ static void parse_options(int argc, char* argv[], Options& o)
                 *parameter++ = 0;
             }
 
-            // Arguments that start with space are undocumented and
-            // are for use by the test suite.
-            if (strcmp(arg, " test-numrange") == 0)
-            {
-                test_numrange(parameter);
-                exit(0);
-            }
-            else if (strcmp(arg, "password") == 0)
+            if (strcmp(arg, "password") == 0)
             {
                 if (parameter == 0)
                 {
diff --git a/qpdf/qtest/qpdf.test b/qpdf/qtest/qpdf.test
index 9b063cb7..a1077238 100644
--- a/qpdf/qtest/qpdf.test
+++ b/qpdf/qtest/qpdf.test
@@ -1319,63 +1319,6 @@ $td->runtest("check output",
              {$td->FILE => "a.pdf"},
              {$td->FILE => "minimal-rotated.pdf"});
 
-show_ntests();
-# ----------
-$td->notify("--- Numeric range parsing tests ---");
-my @nrange_tests = (
-    [",5",
-     "qpdf: error at * in numeric range *,5: unexpected separator",
-     2],
-    ["4,,5",
-     "qpdf: error at * in numeric range 4,*,5: unexpected separator",
-     2],
-    ["4,5,",
-     "qpdf: error at * in numeric range 4,5,*: number expected",
-     2],
-    ["z1,",
-     "qpdf: error at * in numeric range z*1,: digit not expected",
-     2],
-    ["1z,",
-     "qpdf: error at * in numeric range 1*z,: z not expected",
-     2],
-    ["1-5?",
-     "qpdf: error at * in numeric range 1-5*?: unexpected character",
-     2],
-    ["1-30",
-     "qpdf: error in numeric range 1-30: number 30 out of range",
-     2],
-    ["1-10,0,5",
-     "qpdf: error in numeric range 1-10,0,5: number 0 out of range",
-     2],
-    ["1-10,1234,5",
-     "qpdf: error in numeric range 1-10,1234,5: number 1234 out of range",
-     2],
-    ["1,r,3",
-     "qpdf: error in numeric range 1,r,3: number 16 out of range",
-     2],
-    ["1,r16,3",
-     "qpdf: error in numeric range 1,r16,3: number 0 out of range",
-     2],
-    ["1,3,5-10,z-13,13,9,z,2,r2-r4",
-     "numeric range 1,3,5-10,z-13,13,9,z,2,r2-r4" .
-     " -> 1 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 15 14 13 13 9 15 2 14 13 12",
-     0],
-    ["r1-r15", # r\d+ at end
-     "numeric range r1-r15" .
-     " -> 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1",
-     0],
-    );
-$n_tests += scalar(@nrange_tests);
-foreach my $d (@nrange_tests)
-{
-    my ($range, $output, $status) = @$d;
-    $td->runtest("numeric range $range",
-                 {$td->COMMAND => ['qpdf', '-- test-numrange=' . $range],
-                  $td->FILTER => "grep 'numeric range'"},
-                 {$td->STRING => $output . "\n", $td->EXIT_STATUS => $status},
-                 $td->NORMALIZE_NEWLINES);
-}
-
 show_ntests();
 # ----------
 $td->notify("--- Merging and Splitting ---");