diff --git a/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/handlers.py b/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/handlers.py
index 3aeb554..975cd5d 100644
--- a/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/handlers.py
+++ b/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/handlers.py
@@ -19,8 +19,9 @@ class MainKernelSpecHandler(IPythonHandler):
         ksm = self.kernel_spec_manager
         results = []
         for kernel_name in ksm.find_kernel_specs():
-            results.append(dict(name=kernel_name,
-                display_name=ksm.get_kernel_spec(kernel_name).display_name))
+            d = ksm.get_kernel_spec(kernel_name).to_dict()
+            d['name'] = kernel_name
+            results.append(d)
 
         self.set_header("Content-Type", 'application/json')
         self.finish(jsonapi.dumps(results))
diff --git a/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/tests/test_kernelspecs_api.py b/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/tests/test_kernelspecs_api.py
index 9022415..ad2a5fb 100644
--- a/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/tests/test_kernelspecs_api.py
+++ b/IPython/html/services/kernelspecs/tests/test_kernelspecs_api.py
@@ -68,11 +68,14 @@ class APITest(NotebookTestBase):
     def test_list_kernelspecs(self):
         specs = self.ks_api.list().json()
         assert isinstance(specs, list)
-        
+
         # 2: the sample kernelspec created in setUp, and the native Python kernel
         self.assertEqual(len(specs), 2)
-        assert any(s == {'name': 'sample', 'display_name': 'Test kernel'}
-                    for s in specs), specs
+
+        def is_sample_kernelspec(s):
+            return s['name'] == 'sample' and s['display_name'] == 'Test kernel'
+
+        assert any(is_sample_kernelspec(s) for s in specs), specs
 
     def test_get_kernelspec(self):
         spec = self.ks_api.kernel_spec_info('Sample').json()  # Case insensitive
diff --git a/IPython/kernel/kernelspec.py b/IPython/kernel/kernelspec.py
index 1028b66..a9e51ca 100644
--- a/IPython/kernel/kernelspec.py
+++ b/IPython/kernel/kernelspec.py
@@ -47,14 +47,17 @@ class KernelSpec(HasTraits):
         with io.open(kernel_file, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
             kernel_dict = json.load(f)
         return cls(resource_dir=resource_dir, **kernel_dict)
+    
+    def to_dict(self):
+        return dict(argv=self.argv,
+                    env=self.env,
+                    display_name=self.display_name,
+                    language=self.language,
+                    codemirror_mode=self.codemirror_mode,
+                   )
 
     def to_json(self):
-        return json.dumps(dict(argv=self.argv,
-                               env=self.env,
-                               display_name=self.display_name,
-                               language=self.language,
-                               codemirror_mode=self.codemirror_mode,
-                             ))
+        return json.dumps(self.to_dict())
 
 def _is_kernel_dir(path):
     """Is ``path`` a kernel directory?"""