diff --git a/kallithea/lib/utils.py b/kallithea/lib/utils.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/utils.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/utils.py
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ import beaker
 
 from tg import request, response
 from tg.i18n import ugettext as _
-from webhelpers.text import collapse, remove_formatting, strip_tags
 from beaker.cache import _cache_decorate
 
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.hgcompat import ui, config
@@ -54,42 +53,6 @@ log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 REMOVED_REPO_PAT = re.compile(r'rm__\d{8}_\d{6}_\d{6}_.*')
 
 
-def recursive_replace(str_, replace=' '):
-    """
-    Recursive replace of given sign to just one instance
-
-    :param str_: given string
-    :param replace: char to find and replace multiple instances
-
-    Examples::
-    >>> recursive_replace("Mighty---Mighty-Bo--sstones",'-')
-    'Mighty-Mighty-Bo-sstones'
-    """
-
-    if str_.find(replace * 2) == -1:
-        return str_
-    else:
-        str_ = str_.replace(replace * 2, replace)
-        return recursive_replace(str_, replace)
-
-
-def repo_name_slug(value):
-    """
-    Return slug of name of repository
-    This function is called on each creation/modification
-    of repository to prevent bad names in repo
-    """
-
-    slug = remove_formatting(value)
-    slug = strip_tags(slug)
-
-    for c in """`?=[]\;'"<>,/~!@#$%^&*()+{}|: """:
-        slug = slug.replace(c, '-')
-    slug = recursive_replace(slug, '-')
-    slug = collapse(slug, '-')
-    return slug
-
-
 #==============================================================================
 # PERM DECORATOR HELPERS FOR EXTRACTING NAMES FOR PERM CHECKS
 #==============================================================================
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/utils2.py b/kallithea/lib/utils2.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/utils2.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/utils2.py
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
 kallithea.lib.utils2
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-Some simple helper functions
+Some simple helper functions.
+Note: all these functions should be independent of Kallithea classes, i.e.
+models, controllers, etc.  to prevent import cycles.
 
 This file was forked by the Kallithea project in July 2014.
 Original author and date, and relevant copyright and licensing information is below:
@@ -37,6 +39,7 @@ import binascii
 
 import webob
 import urlobject
+from webhelpers.text import collapse, remove_formatting, strip_tags
 
 from tg.i18n import ugettext as _, ungettext
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.lazy import LazyProperty
@@ -646,3 +649,39 @@ class Optional(object):
 
 def urlreadable(s, _cleanstringsub=re.compile('[^-a-zA-Z0-9./]+').sub):
     return _cleanstringsub('_', safe_str(s)).rstrip('_')
+
+
+def recursive_replace(str_, replace=' '):
+    """
+    Recursive replace of given sign to just one instance
+
+    :param str_: given string
+    :param replace: char to find and replace multiple instances
+
+    Examples::
+    >>> recursive_replace("Mighty---Mighty-Bo--sstones",'-')
+    'Mighty-Mighty-Bo-sstones'
+    """
+
+    if str_.find(replace * 2) == -1:
+        return str_
+    else:
+        str_ = str_.replace(replace * 2, replace)
+        return recursive_replace(str_, replace)
+
+
+def repo_name_slug(value):
+    """
+    Return slug of name of repository
+    This function is called on each creation/modification
+    of repository to prevent bad names in repo
+    """
+
+    slug = remove_formatting(value)
+    slug = strip_tags(slug)
+
+    for c in """`?=[]\;'"<>,/~!@#$%^&*()+{}|: """:
+        slug = slug.replace(c, '-')
+    slug = recursive_replace(slug, '-')
+    slug = collapse(slug, '-')
+    return slug
diff --git a/kallithea/model/repo.py b/kallithea/model/repo.py
--- a/kallithea/model/repo.py
+++ b/kallithea/model/repo.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ import traceback
 from datetime import datetime
 from sqlalchemy.orm import subqueryload
 
-import kallithea.lib.utils
+import kallithea.lib.utils2
 from kallithea.lib.utils import make_ui, is_valid_repo_uri
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.backends import get_backend
 from kallithea.lib.utils2 import LazyProperty, safe_str, safe_unicode, \
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ class RepoModel(object):
 
             if 'repo_name' in kwargs:
                 repo_name = kwargs['repo_name']
-                if kallithea.lib.utils.repo_name_slug(repo_name) != repo_name:
+                if kallithea.lib.utils2.repo_name_slug(repo_name) != repo_name:
                     raise Exception('invalid repo name %s' % repo_name)
                 cur_repo.repo_name = cur_repo.get_new_name(repo_name)
 
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ class RepoModel(object):
             # with name and path of group
             repo_name_full = repo_name
             repo_name = repo_name.split(self.URL_SEPARATOR)[-1]
-            if kallithea.lib.utils.repo_name_slug(repo_name) != repo_name:
+            if kallithea.lib.utils2.repo_name_slug(repo_name) != repo_name:
                 raise Exception('invalid repo name %s' % repo_name)
 
             new_repo = Repository()
diff --git a/kallithea/model/repo_group.py b/kallithea/model/repo_group.py
--- a/kallithea/model/repo_group.py
+++ b/kallithea/model/repo_group.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ import traceback
 import shutil
 import datetime
 
-import kallithea.lib.utils
+import kallithea.lib.utils2
 from kallithea.lib.utils2 import LazyProperty
 
 from kallithea.model.db import RepoGroup, Session, Ui, UserRepoGroupToPerm, \
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ class RepoGroupModel(object):
     def create(self, group_name, group_description, owner, parent=None,
                just_db=False, copy_permissions=False):
         try:
-            if kallithea.lib.utils.repo_name_slug(group_name) != group_name:
+            if kallithea.lib.utils2.repo_name_slug(group_name) != group_name:
                 raise Exception('invalid repo group name %s' % group_name)
 
             owner = User.guess_instance(owner)
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ class RepoGroupModel(object):
                 repo_group.parent_group = RepoGroup.get(kwargs['parent_group_id'])
             if 'group_name' in kwargs:
                 group_name = kwargs['group_name']
-                if kallithea.lib.utils.repo_name_slug(group_name) != group_name:
+                if kallithea.lib.utils2.repo_name_slug(group_name) != group_name:
                     raise Exception('invalid repo group name %s' % group_name)
                 repo_group.group_name = repo_group.get_new_name(group_name)
             new_path = repo_group.full_path
diff --git a/kallithea/model/validators.py b/kallithea/model/validators.py
--- a/kallithea/model/validators.py
+++ b/kallithea/model/validators.py
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ from formencode.validators import (
 )
 from kallithea.lib.compat import OrderedSet
 from kallithea.lib import ipaddr
-from kallithea.lib.utils import repo_name_slug, is_valid_repo_uri
-from kallithea.lib.utils2 import str2bool, aslist
+from kallithea.lib.utils import is_valid_repo_uri
+from kallithea.lib.utils2 import str2bool, aslist, repo_name_slug
 from kallithea.model.db import RepoGroup, Repository, UserGroup, User
 from kallithea.lib.exceptions import LdapImportError
 from kallithea.config.routing import ADMIN_PREFIX