diff --git a/IPython/qt/console/magic_helper.py b/IPython/qt/console/magic_helper.py
index 95c310a..17c3e20 100644
--- a/IPython/qt/console/magic_helper.py
+++ b/IPython/qt/console/magic_helper.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ class MagicHelper(QtGui.QDockWidget):
 
     pasteRequested = QtCore.pyqtSignal(str, name = 'pasteRequested')
     runRequested = QtCore.pyqtSignal(str, name = 'runRequested')
+    readyForUpdate = QtCore.pyqtSignal(name = 'readyForUpdate')
 
     #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     # 'object' interface
@@ -34,11 +35,6 @@ class MagicHelper(QtGui.QDockWidget):
 
         super(MagicHelper, self).__init__(name, parent)
 
-        # this is a hack. The main_window reference will be used for 
-        # explicit interface to kernel that must be hidden by signal/slot 
-        # mechanism in the future
-        self.main_window = parent
-
         self.data = None
 
         class MinListWidget(QtGui.QListWidget):
@@ -94,21 +90,9 @@ class MagicHelper(QtGui.QDockWidget):
         self.data = {}
         self.search_class.clear()
         self.search_class.addItem("Populating...")
-        self.main_window.active_frontend._silent_exec_callback(
-            'get_ipython().magic("lsmagic")',
-            self.populate_magic_helper
-        )
+        self.readyForUpdate.emit()
 
     def populate_magic_helper(self, data):
-        if not data:
-            return
-
-        if data['status'] != 'ok':
-            self.main_window.log.warn(
-                "%%lsmagic user-expression failed: {}".format(data)
-            )
-            return
-
         self.search_class.clear()
         self.search_list.clear()
                 
diff --git a/IPython/qt/console/mainwindow.py b/IPython/qt/console/mainwindow.py
index aac8a76..905421c 100644
--- a/IPython/qt/console/mainwindow.py
+++ b/IPython/qt/console/mainwindow.py
@@ -713,6 +713,9 @@ class MainWindow(QtGui.QMainWindow):
         self.magic_helper.runRequested[str].connect(
             self.magic_helper_run_requested
         )
+        self.magic_helper.readyForUpdate.connect(
+            self.magic_helper_update_requested
+        )
 
         self.addDockWidget(QtCore.Qt.RightDockWidgetArea, self.magic_helper)
 
@@ -732,8 +735,23 @@ class MainWindow(QtGui.QMainWindow):
             self.active_frontend.execute(text)  
             self._set_active_frontend_focus()
 
+    def magic_helper_update_requested(self):
+        def _handle_data(data):
+            if not data:
+                return
+
+            if data['status'] != 'ok':
+                self.log.warn( 
+                    "%%lsmagic user-expression failed: {}".format(data)
+                )
+                return
+            self.magic_helper.populate_magic_helper(data)
+
+        self.active_frontend._silent_exec_callback(
+            'get_ipython().magic("lsmagic")',
+            _handle_data
+        )
 
-        
     # minimize/maximize/fullscreen actions:
 
     def toggle_menu_bar(self):