diff --git a/src/gethdep.go b/src/gethdep.go
index 056f33a13..d745a8ae9 100644
--- a/src/gethdep.go
+++ b/src/gethdep.go
@@ -3,9 +3,12 @@ package main
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/accounts"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/cmd/utils"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/crypto"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/node"
 	errextra "github.com/pkg/errors"
@@ -23,17 +26,23 @@ func createAccount(password, keydir string) (string, string, error) {
 	w := true
 	accman := accounts.NewManager(keydir, scryptN, scryptP, sync)
 
+	// generate the account
 	account, err := accman.NewAccount(password, w)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", "", errextra.Wrap(err, "Account manager could not create the account")
 	}
-
 	address := fmt.Sprintf("%x", account.Address)
-	key, err := crypto.LoadECDSA(account.File)
+
+	// recover the public key to return
+	keyContents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(account.File)
 	if err != nil {
-		return address, "", errextra.Wrap(err, "Could not load the key")
+		return address, "", errextra.Wrap(err, "Could not load the key contents")
 	}
-	pubKey := string(crypto.FromECDSAPub(&key.PublicKey))
+	key, err := accounts.DecryptKey(keyContents, password)
+	if err != nil {
+		return address, "", errextra.Wrap(err, "Could not recover the key")
+	}
+	pubKey := common.ToHex(crypto.FromECDSAPub(&key.PrivateKey.PublicKey))
 
 	return address, pubKey, nil
 
@@ -42,7 +51,7 @@ func createAccount(password, keydir string) (string, string, error) {
 // unlockAccount unlocks an existing account for a certain duration and
 // inject the account as a whisper identity if the account was created as
 // a whisper enabled account
-func unlockAccount(address, password string) error {
+func unlockAccount(address, password string, seconds int) error {
 
 	if currentNode != nil {
 
@@ -52,7 +61,7 @@ func unlockAccount(address, password string) error {
 			return errextra.Wrap(err, "Could not retrieve account from address")
 		}
 
-		err = accman.Unlock(account, password)
+		err = accman.TimedUnlock(account, password, time.Duration(seconds)*time.Second)
 		if err != nil {
 			return errextra.Wrap(err, "Could not decrypt account")
 		}
@@ -69,7 +78,7 @@ func unlockAccount(address, password string) error {
 // node running locally
 func createAndStartNode(datadir string) error {
 
-	currentNode := MakeNode(datadir)
+	currentNode = MakeNode(datadir)
 	if currentNode != nil {
 		StartNode(currentNode)
 		return nil
diff --git a/src/gethdep_test.go b/src/gethdep_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..31a330115
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/gethdep_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// TestAccountBindings makes sure we can create an account and subsequently
+// unlock that account
+func TestAccountBindings(t *testing.T) {
+
+	// create an account
+	address, _, err := createAccount("badpassword", ".ethereumtest/keystore")
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Println(err.Error())
+		t.Error("Test failed: could not create account")
+	}
+
+	// start geth node and wait for it to initialize
+	go createAndStartNode(".ethereumtest")
+	time.Sleep(5 * time.Second)
+	if currentNode == nil {
+		t.Error("Test failed: could not start geth node")
+	}
+
+	// unlock the created account
+	err = unlockAccount(address, "badpassword", 10)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Println(err)
+		t.Error("Test failed: could not unlock account")
+	}
+
+	// clean up
+	err = os.RemoveAll(".ethereumtest")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error("Test failed: could not clean up temporary datadir")
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/library.go b/src/library.go
index b50ee292d..e496a5c5e 100644
--- a/src/library.go
+++ b/src/library.go
@@ -2,42 +2,57 @@ package main
 
 import "C"
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 )
 
 //export doCreateAccount
-func doCreateAccount(password, keydir *C.char) (*C.char, *C.char, C.int) {
+func doCreateAccount(password, keydir *C.char) *C.char {
 	// This is equivalent to creating an account from the command line,
 	// just modified to handle the function arg passing
 	address, pubKey, err := createAccount(C.GoString(password), C.GoString(keydir))
+	out := AccountInfo{
+		Address: address,
+		PubKey:  pubKey,
+		Error:   err.Error(),
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
-		return C.CString(""), C.CString(""), -1
 	}
-	return C.CString(address), C.CString(pubKey), 0
+	outBytes, _ := json.Marshal(&out)
+	return C.CString(string(outBytes))
+
 }
 
 //export doUnlockAccount
-func doUnlockAccount(address, password *C.char) C.int {
+func doUnlockAccount(address, password *C.char, seconds int) *C.char {
 	// This is equivalent to unlocking an account from the command line,
 	// just modified to unlock the account for the currently running geth node
 	// based on the provided arguments
-	if err := unlockAccount(C.GoString(address), C.GoString(password)); err != nil {
-		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
-		return -1
+	err := unlockAccount(C.GoString(address), C.GoString(password), seconds)
+	out := JSONError{
+		Error: err.Error(),
 	}
-	return 0
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+	}
+	outBytes, _ := json.Marshal(&out)
+	return C.CString(string(outBytes))
 }
 
 //export doStartNode
-func doStartNode(datadir *C.char) C.int {
+func doStartNode(datadir *C.char) *C.char {
 	// This starts a geth node with the given datadir
-	if err := createAndStartNode(C.GoString(datadir)); err != nil {
-		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
-		return -1
+	err := createAndStartNode(C.GoString(datadir))
+	out := JSONError{
+		Error: err.Error(),
 	}
-	return 0
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+	}
+	outBytes, _ := json.Marshal(&out)
+	return C.CString(string(outBytes))
 }
 
 //export parse
diff --git a/src/types.go b/src/types.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2bd82534f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/types.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+package main
+
+type AccountInfo struct {
+	Address string `json:"address"`
+	PubKey  string `json:"pubkey"`
+	Error   string `json:"error"`
+}
+
+type JSONError struct {
+	Error string `json:"error"`
+}