diff --git a/youtube_dl/update.py b/youtube_dl/update.py
index d6e2938758..eab8417a50 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/update.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/update.py
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ def update_self(to_screen, verbose, filename):
     to_screen(u'Updating to version ' + versions_info['latest'] + '...')
     version = versions_info['versions'][versions_info['latest']]
 
-    print_notes(versions_info['versions'])
+    print_notes(to_screen, versions_info['versions'])
 
     if not os.access(filename, os.W_OK):
         to_screen(u'ERROR: no write permissions on %s' % filename)
@@ -157,11 +157,15 @@ del "%s"
 
     to_screen(u'Updated youtube-dl. Restart youtube-dl to use the new version.')
 
-def print_notes(versions, fromVersion=__version__):
+def get_notes(versions, fromVersion):
     notes = []
     for v,vdata in sorted(versions.items()):
         if v > fromVersion:
             notes.extend(vdata.get('notes', []))
+    return notes
+
+def print_notes(to_screen, versions, fromVersion=__version__):
+    notes = get_notes(versions, fromVersion)
     if notes:
         to_screen(u'PLEASE NOTE:')
         for note in notes: