diff --git a/lib/data_uri.rb b/lib/data_uri.rb
index 42dc655..515f515 100644
--- a/lib/data_uri.rb
+++ b/lib/data_uri.rb
@@ -1,24 +1,7 @@
 require 'uri'
 require 'base64'
+require 'stringio'
+require 'rubygems'
+require 'mime/types'
 
-module URI
-
-  class Data < Generic
-
-    COMPONENT = [:scheme, :opaque].freeze
-    OPAQUE_REGEXP = /^([^;]+);base64,(.+)$/.freeze
-
-    attr_reader :content_type, :data
-
-    def initialize(*args)
-      super(*args)
-      if OPAQUE_REGEXP.match(@opaque)
-        @content_type = $1
-        @data = Base64.decode64($2)
-      end
-    end
-  end
-
-  @@schemes['DATA'] = Data
-
-end
+require 'data_uri/uri'
diff --git a/lib/data_uri/open_uri.rb b/lib/data_uri/open_uri.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b485c79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/data_uri/open_uri.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+module URI
+
+  class Data
+
+    def open
+      io = StringIO.new(data)
+      OpenURI::Meta.init(io)
+      io.meta_add_field('content-type', content_type)
+      if block_given?
+        begin
+          yield io
+        ensure
+          io.close
+        end
+      else
+        io
+      end
+    end
+
+  end
+
+end
diff --git a/lib/data_uri/uri.rb b/lib/data_uri/uri.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a741103
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/data_uri/uri.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+module URI
+
+  class Data < Generic
+
+    COMPONENT = [:scheme, :opaque].freeze
+
+    attr_reader :content_type, :data
+
+    def initialize(*args)
+      super(*args)
+      @data = @opaque
+      if md = MIME::Type::MEDIA_TYPE_RE.match(@data)
+        offset = md.offset(0)
+        if offset[0] == 0
+          @content_type = md[0]
+          @data = @data[offset[1] .. -1]
+        end
+      end
+      @content_type ||= 'text/plain'
+      if base64 = /^;base64/.match(@data)
+        @data = @data[7 .. -1]
+      end
+      unless /^,/.match(@data)
+        raise 'Invalid data URI'
+      end
+      @data = @data[1 .. -1]
+      @data = base64 ? Base64.decode64(@data) : URI.decode(@data)
+    end
+  end
+
+  @@schemes['DATA'] = Data
+
+end
diff --git a/test/test_data_open_uri.rb b/test/test_data_open_uri.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d1928a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_data_open_uri.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+require 'data_uri'
+require 'open-uri'
+require 'data_uri/open_uri'
+require 'minitest/autorun'
+
+describe URI::Data do
+
+  describe "a valid data URI" do
+
+    before do
+      @base64 = "R0lGODlhAQABAIABAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAEALAAAAAABAAEAQAICTAEAOw=="
+      @uri = URI.parse("data:image/gif;base64,#{@base64}")
+      @data = Base64.decode64(@base64)
+    end
+
+    it "should open" do
+      @uri.open.read.must_equal @data
+    end
+
+    it "should open with a block" do
+      @uri.open do |io|
+        io.read.must_equal @data
+      end
+    end
+
+    it "should have content_type on opened IO" do
+      @uri.open.content_type.must_equal 'image/gif'
+    end
+
+    it "should open on Kernel.open" do
+      open(@uri).read.must_equal @uri.data
+    end
+
+  end
+
+end
diff --git a/test/test_data_uri.rb b/test/test_data_uri.rb
index c863336..3ceacb1 100644
--- a/test/test_data_uri.rb
+++ b/test/test_data_uri.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 describe URI::Data do
 
-  describe "a valid data URI" do
+  describe "a base64 encoded image/gif data URI" do
     
     before do
       @base64 = "R0lGODlhAQABAIABAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAEALAAAAAABAAEAQAICTAEAOw=="
@@ -18,11 +18,31 @@
       @uri.content_type.must_equal 'image/gif'
     end
 
-    it "should have decoded data" do
+    it "should have data" do
       require 'base64'
       @uri.data.must_equal Base64.decode64(@base64)
     end
 
   end
 
+  describe "a text/plain data URI" do
+
+    before do
+      @uri = URI.parse("data:,A%20brief%20note")
+    end
+
+    it "should parse as a URI::Data object" do
+      @uri.class.must_equal URI::Data
+    end
+
+    it "should have a content_type of text/plain" do
+      @uri.content_type.must_equal 'text/plain'
+    end
+    
+    it "should have data" do
+      @uri.data.must_equal 'A brief note'
+    end
+
+  end
+
 end