diff --git a/py/makeqstrdata.py b/py/makeqstrdata.py
index e8adb0cbb6..ea0ecd686f 100644
--- a/py/makeqstrdata.py
+++ b/py/makeqstrdata.py
@@ -45,7 +45,10 @@ def compute_hash(qstr, bytes_hash):
     # Make sure that valid hash is never zero, zero means "hash not computed"
     return (hash & ((1 << (8 * bytes_hash)) - 1)) or 1
 
-def do_work(infiles):
+def qstr_escape(qst):
+    return re.sub(r'[^A-Za-z0-9_]', lambda s: "_" + codepoint2name[ord(s.group(0))] + '_', qst)
+
+def parse_input_headers(infiles):
     # read the qstrs in from the input files
     qcfgs = {}
     qstrs = {}
@@ -71,7 +74,7 @@ def do_work(infiles):
 
                 # get the qstr value
                 qstr = match.group(1)
-                ident = re.sub(r'[^A-Za-z0-9_]', lambda s: "_" + codepoint2name[ord(s.group(0))] + "_", qstr)
+                ident = qstr_escape(qstr)
 
                 # don't add duplicates
                 if ident in qstrs:
@@ -84,10 +87,24 @@ def do_work(infiles):
         sys.stderr.write("ERROR: Empty preprocessor output - check for errors above\n")
         sys.exit(1)
 
+    return qcfgs, qstrs
+
+def make_bytes(cfg_bytes_len, cfg_bytes_hash, qstr):
+    qhash = compute_hash(qstr, cfg_bytes_hash)
+    # Calculate len of str, taking escapes into account
+    qlen = len(qstr.replace("\\\\", "-").replace("\\", ""))
+    qdata = qstr.replace('"', '\\"')
+    if qlen >= (1 << (8 * cfg_bytes_len)):
+        print('qstr is too long:', qstr)
+        assert False
+    qlen_str = ('\\x%02x' * cfg_bytes_len) % tuple(((qlen >> (8 * i)) & 0xff) for i in range(cfg_bytes_len))
+    qhash_str = ('\\x%02x' * cfg_bytes_hash) % tuple(((qhash >> (8 * i)) & 0xff) for i in range(cfg_bytes_hash))
+    return '(const byte*)"%s%s" "%s"' % (qhash_str, qlen_str, qdata)
+
+def print_qstr_data(qcfgs, qstrs):
     # get config variables
     cfg_bytes_len = int(qcfgs['BYTES_IN_LEN'])
     cfg_bytes_hash = int(qcfgs['BYTES_IN_HASH'])
-    cfg_max_len = 1 << (8 * cfg_bytes_len)
 
     # print out the starter of the generated C header file
     print('// This file was automatically generated by makeqstrdata.py')
@@ -98,16 +115,12 @@ def do_work(infiles):
 
     # go through each qstr and print it out
     for order, ident, qstr in sorted(qstrs.values(), key=lambda x: x[0]):
-        qhash = compute_hash(qstr, cfg_bytes_hash)
-        # Calculate len of str, taking escapes into account
-        qlen = len(qstr.replace("\\\\", "-").replace("\\", ""))
-        qdata = qstr.replace('"', '\\"')
-        if qlen >= cfg_max_len:
-            print('qstr is too long:', qstr)
-            assert False
-        qlen_str = ('\\x%02x' * cfg_bytes_len) % tuple(((qlen >> (8 * i)) & 0xff) for i in range(cfg_bytes_len))
-        qhash_str = ('\\x%02x' * cfg_bytes_hash) % tuple(((qhash >> (8 * i)) & 0xff) for i in range(cfg_bytes_hash))
-        print('QDEF(MP_QSTR_%s, (const byte*)"%s%s" "%s")' % (ident, qhash_str, qlen_str, qdata))
+        qbytes = make_bytes(cfg_bytes_len, cfg_bytes_hash, qstr)
+        print('QDEF(MP_QSTR_%s, %s)' % (ident, qbytes))
+
+def do_work(infiles):
+    qcfgs, qstrs = parse_input_headers(infiles)
+    print_qstr_data(qcfgs, qstrs)
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     do_work(sys.argv[1:])