diff --git a/IPython/core/formatters.py b/IPython/core/formatters.py
index 6d1d12b..ef010c3 100644
--- a/IPython/core/formatters.py
+++ b/IPython/core/formatters.py
@@ -50,9 +50,6 @@ def _valid_formatter(f):
     """
     if f is None:
         return False
-    elif isinstance(f, type(str.find)):
-        # unbound methods on compiled classes have type method_descriptor
-        return False
     elif isinstance(f, types.BuiltinFunctionType):
         # bound methods on compiled classes have type builtin_function
         return True
@@ -68,6 +65,9 @@ def _valid_formatter(f):
 
 def _safe_get_formatter_method(obj, name):
     """Safely get a formatter method"""
+    if inspect.isclass(obj):
+        # repr methods only make sense on instances, not classes
+        return None
     method = pretty._safe_getattr(obj, name, None)
     # formatter methods must be bound
     if _valid_formatter(method):
diff --git a/IPython/core/tests/test_formatters.py b/IPython/core/tests/test_formatters.py
index 1c511ea..6061ed4 100644
--- a/IPython/core/tests/test_formatters.py
+++ b/IPython/core/tests/test_formatters.py
@@ -314,7 +314,6 @@ def test_print_method_bound():
     class MyHTML(object):
         def _repr_html_(self):
             return "hello"
-
     with capture_output() as captured:
         result = f(MyHTML)
     nt.assert_is(result, None)
@@ -325,6 +324,45 @@ def test_print_method_bound():
     nt.assert_equal(result, "hello")
     nt.assert_equal(captured.stderr, "")
 
+def test_print_method_weird():
+
+    class TextMagicHat(object):
+        def __getattr__(self, key):
+            return key
+
+    f = HTMLFormatter()
+    
+    text_hat = TextMagicHat()
+    nt.assert_equal(text_hat._repr_html_, '_repr_html_')
+    with capture_output() as captured:
+        result = f(text_hat)
+    
+    nt.assert_is(result, None)
+    nt.assert_not_in("FormatterWarning", captured.stderr)
+
+    class CallableMagicHat(object):
+        def __getattr__(self, key):
+            return lambda : key
+    
+    call_hat = CallableMagicHat()
+    with capture_output() as captured:
+        result = f(call_hat)
+    
+    nt.assert_equal(result, '_repr_html_')
+    nt.assert_not_in("FormatterWarning", captured.stderr)
+
+    class BadReprArgs(object):
+        def _repr_html_(self, extra, args):
+            return "html"
+    
+    bad = BadReprArgs()
+    with capture_output() as captured:
+        result = f(bad)
+    
+    nt.assert_is(result, None)
+    nt.assert_not_in("FormatterWarning", captured.stderr)
+
+
 def test_format_config():
     """config objects don't pretend to support fancy reprs with lazy attrs"""
     f = HTMLFormatter()