diff --git a/include/objectManager.php b/include/objectManager.php
index 2879009..a564082 100644
--- a/include/objectManager.php
+++ b/include/objectManager.php
@@ -20,7 +20,10 @@ class ObjectManager
     /* Check whether the associated class has the given method */
     function checkMethod($sMethodName, $bEnableOutput)
     {
-        if(!method_exists($this->sClass, $sMethodName))
+        // NOTE: we only 'new' here because php4 requires an instance
+        //       of an object as the first argument to method_exists(), php5
+        //       doesn't
+        if(!method_exists(new $this->sClass(), $sMethodName))
         {
             if($bEnableOutput) echo "class '".$this->sClass."' lacks method '".$sMethodName."'\n";
             return false;