diff --git a/apachesolr.admin.inc b/apachesolr.admin.inc
index 063810c..7329ebd 100644
--- a/apachesolr.admin.inc
+++ b/apachesolr.admin.inc
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ function apachesolr_environment_edit_form(&$form_state, $environment = NULL) {
   if (empty($environment)) {
     $environment = array();
   }
-  $environment += array('env_id' => '', 'name' => '', 'url' => '', 'service_class' => '', 'conf' => array());
+  $environment += array('env_id' => '', 'name' => '', 'url' => '', 'service_class' => '', 'conf' => array('service_class_conf' => ''));
 
   $form['url'] = array(
     '#type' => 'textfield',
@@ -129,10 +129,17 @@ function apachesolr_environment_edit_form(&$form_state, $environment = NULL) {
     '#default_value' => !empty($environment['env_id']) ? $environment['env_id'] : '',
     '#description' => t('A unique machine-readable identifier for the search page configuration. It must only contain lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores.'),
   );
+
   $form['service_class'] = array(
     '#type' => 'value',
     '#value' => $environment['service_class'],
   );
+  // D6 needs more info to load the class
+  $service_class_info = isset($environment['conf']['service_class_info']) ? $environment['conf']['service_class_info'] : NULL;
+  $form['service_class_info'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'value',
+    '#value' => $service_class_info,
+  );
   $form['conf'] = array(
     '#tree' => TRUE,
   );
@@ -173,7 +180,7 @@ function apachesolr_environment_edit_form(&$form_state, $environment = NULL) {
 }
 
 function apachesolr_environment_edit_test_submit($form, &$form_state) {
-  $ping = apachesolr_server_status($form_state['values']['url'], $form_state['values']['service_class']);
+  $ping = apachesolr_server_status($form_state['values']['url'], $form_state['values']['service_class'], $form_state['values']['service_class_info']);
   if ($ping) {
     drupal_set_message(t('Your site has contacted the Apache Solr server.'));
   }
@@ -340,7 +347,8 @@ function apachesolr_settings(&$form_state) {
     // want to check the statusses of any environment
     $class = '';
     if (empty($form_state['input'])) {
-      $class = apachesolr_server_status($data['url'], $data['service_class']) ? 'ok' : 'error';
+      $service_class_info = isset($data['conf']['service_class_info']) ? $data['conf']['service_class_info'] : NULL;
+      $class = apachesolr_server_status($data['url'], $data['service_class'], $service_class_info) ? 'ok' : 'error';
     }
 
     $headers = array(
@@ -446,7 +454,9 @@ function apachesolr_status_page($environment = NULL) {
   }
 
   // Check for availability
-  if (!apachesolr_server_status($environment['url'], $environment['service_class'])) {
+  $service_class_info = isset($environment['conf']['service_class_info']) ? $environment['conf']['service_class_info'] : NULL;
+  $service_class = isset($environment['service_class']) ? $environment['service_class'] : NULL;
+  if (!apachesolr_server_status($environment['url'], $service_class, $service_class_info)) {
     drupal_set_message(t('The server seems to be unavailable. Please verify the server settings at the <a href="!settings_page">settings page</a>', array('!settings_page' => url("admin/settings/apachesolr/settings/{$environment['env_id']}/edit", array('query' =>  drupal_get_destination())))), 'warning');
     return '';
   }
diff --git a/apachesolr.module b/apachesolr.module
index 13d925a..cceb480 100644
--- a/apachesolr.module
+++ b/apachesolr.module
@@ -1088,23 +1088,17 @@ function apachesolr_get_solr($env_id = NULL, $reset = FALSE) {
     $env_id = apachesolr_default_environment();
   }
 
-  // @Todo
-  // Extra service classes should include their file on their own responsability
   if (isset($environments[$env_id])) {
-    $class = $environments[$env_id]['service_class'];
+    $class_info = array();
+    $class = NULL;
 
+    if ($environments[$env_id]['service_class']) {
+      $class_info = isset($environments[$env_id]['conf']['service_class_info']) ? $environments[$env_id]['conf']['service_class_info'] : NULL;
+      $class = $environments[$env_id]['service_class'];
+    }
+    $class = apachesolr_load_service_class($class, $class_info);
+    
     if (empty($solr_cache[$env_id])) {
-      // Use the default class if none is specified.
-      $class_info = variable_get('apachesolr_service_class', array(
-        'file' => 'Drupal_Apache_Solr_Service',
-        'module' => 'apachesolr',
-        'class' => 'DrupalApacheSolrService'));
-
-      if (!class_exists($class) && isset($class_info['file']) && isset($class_info['module'])) {
-        module_load_include('php', $class_info['module'], $class_info['file']);
-        $class = $class_info['class'];
-      }
-      // Takes advantage of auto-loading.
       $solr = new $class($environments[$env_id]['url'], $env_id);
       $solr_cache[$env_id] = $solr;
     }
@@ -1115,6 +1109,29 @@ function apachesolr_get_solr($env_id = NULL, $reset = FALSE) {
   }
 }
 
+function apachesolr_load_service_class($class = NULL, $class_info = NULL) {
+  // If class is already loaded, do nothing
+  if (class_exists($class)) {
+    return $class;
+  }
+
+  // Use the default class if none is specified.
+  if (!is_array($class_info) || !isset($class)) {
+    $class_info = variable_get('apachesolr_service_class', array(
+      'file' => 'Drupal_Apache_Solr_Service',
+      'module' => 'apachesolr',
+      'class' => 'DrupalApacheSolrService'));
+    $class = $class_info['class'];
+  }
+
+  if (!class_exists($class) && isset($class_info['file']) && isset($class_info['module'])) {
+    $loaded = module_load_include('php', $class_info['module'], $class_info['file']);
+    if ($loaded === FALSE) {
+      throw new Exception('Could not load defined service class: ' . $class);
+    }
+  }
+  return $class;
+}
 /**
  * Function that loads all the environments
  *
@@ -1296,7 +1313,7 @@ function apachesolr_create_unique_id($existing, $id) {
 function apachesolr_environment_save($environment) {
   static $environments;
   static $solr_cache;
-  $default = array('env_id' => NULL, 'name' => '', 'url' => '', 'service_class' => '', 'conf' => array());
+  $default = array('env_id' => NULL, 'name' => '', 'url' => '', 'service_class' => '', 'conf' => array('service_class_info' => array()));
 
   $old_environment = apachesolr_environment_load($environment['env_id']);
   $is_new = FALSE;
@@ -1376,21 +1393,9 @@ function apachesolr_environment_variable_del($env_id, $name) {
  *
  * @return boolean TRUE if the server can be pinged, FALSE otherwise.
  */
-function apachesolr_server_status($url, $class = NULL) {
+function apachesolr_server_status($url, $class = NULL, $class_info = NULL) {
   static $status = array();
-  // @Todo
-  // Extra service classes should include their file on their own responsability
-
-  // Use the default class if none is specified.
-  $class_info = variable_get('apachesolr_service_class', array(
-    'file' => 'Drupal_Apache_Solr_Service',
-    'module' => 'apachesolr',
-    'class' => 'DrupalApacheSolrService'));
-  if (!class_exists($class) && isset($class_info['file']) && isset($class_info['module'])) {
-    $class = $class_info['class'];
-    module_load_include('php', $class_info['module'], $class_info['file']);
-  }
-
+  $class = apachesolr_load_service_class($class, $class_info);
   $key = $url . '|' . $class;
   // Static store insures we don't ping the server more than once per page load.
   if (!isset($status[$key])) {