diff --git a/ircbot/bot.py b/ircbot/bot.py
index df7b617..3d52e07 100644
--- a/ircbot/bot.py
+++ b/ircbot/bot.py
@@ -840,7 +840,7 @@ class IRCBot(irc.client.SimpleIRCClient):
         log.debug("OUTGOING PRIVMSG: t[%s] m[%s]", target, text)
         self.connection.send_raw("PRIVMSG {0:s} :{1:s}".format(target, text))
 
-    def reply(self, event, replystr, stop=False):
+    def reply(self, event, replystr, stop=False, explicit_target=None):
         """Reply over IRC to replypath or return a string with the reply.
 
         The primary utility for this is to properly handle recursion. The
@@ -853,22 +853,32 @@ class IRCBot(irc.client.SimpleIRCClient):
         method will certainly have recursion do odd things with your module.
 
         Args:
-            event       incoming event
-            replystr    the message to reply with
-            stop        whether or not to let other handlers see this
+            event           incoming event
+            replystr        the message to reply with
+            stop            whether or not to let other handlers see this
+            explicit_target if event is none, use this for the destination
 
         Returns:
             The replystr if the event is inside recursion, or, potentially,
             "NO MORE" to stop other event handlers from acting.
         """
 
-        log.debug("in reply for e[%s] r[%s]", event, replystr)
-        replypath = ircbotlib.reply_destination_for_event(event)
+        if event:
+            log.debug("in reply for e[%s] r[%s]", event, replystr)
+            replypath = ircbotlib.reply_destination_for_event(event)
+            recursing = getattr(event, '_recursing', False)
+            log.debug("determined recursing to be %s", recursing)
+        elif explicit_target:
+            log.debug("in reply for e[NO EVENT] r[%s]", replystr)
+            replypath = explicit_target
+            recursing = False
+        else:
+            log.warning("reply() called with no event and no explicit target, aborting")
+            return
+
         log.debug("replypath: %s", replypath)
 
         if replystr is not None:
-            recursing = getattr(event, '_recursing', False)
-            log.debug("determined recursing to be %s", recursing)
             if recursing:
                 return replystr
             else: