diff -r 0df85a2ebe4d Doc/library/sqlite3.rst
--- a/Doc/library/sqlite3.rst	Wed Jan 11 03:32:43 2012 -0500
+++ b/Doc/library/sqlite3.rst	Wed Jan 11 21:22:19 2012 +0100
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@
    first blank for the column name: the column name would simply be "x".
 
 
-.. function:: connect(database[, timeout, detect_types, isolation_level, check_same_thread, factory, cached_statements])
+.. function:: connect(database[, timeout, detect_types, isolation_level, check_same_thread, factory, cached_statements, uri])
 
    Opens a connection to the SQLite database file *database*. You can use
    ``":memory:"`` to open a database connection to a database that resides in RAM
@@ -172,6 +172,12 @@
    for the connection, you can set the *cached_statements* parameter. The currently
    implemented default is to cache 100 statements.
 
+   If *uri* is :const:`True`, *database* is interpreted as a URI. This allows you
+   to specify options. For example, to open a database in read-only mode you can
+   use::
+
+       db = sqlite3.connect('file:path/to/database?mode=ro', uri=True)
+
 
 .. function:: register_converter(typename, callable)
 
diff -r 0df85a2ebe4d Lib/sqlite3/test/dbapi.py
--- a/Lib/sqlite3/test/dbapi.py	Wed Jan 11 03:32:43 2012 -0500
+++ b/Lib/sqlite3/test/dbapi.py	Wed Jan 11 21:22:19 2012 +0100
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 # 3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.
 
 import unittest
+import tempfile
+import os
 import sqlite3 as sqlite
 try:
     import threading
@@ -162,6 +164,21 @@
     def CheckInTransactionRO(self):
         with self.assertRaises(AttributeError):
             self.cx.in_transaction = True
+    
+    def CheckOpenUri(self):
+        fd, fn = tempfile.mkstemp(prefix="test_sqlite3-")
+        os.close(fd)
+        try:
+            with sqlite.connect(fn) as cx:
+                cx.execute('create table test(id integer)')
+            with sqlite.connect('file:' + fn, uri=True) as cx:
+                cx.execute('insert into test(id) values(0)')
+            with sqlite.connect('file:' + fn + '?mode=ro', uri=True) as cx:
+                with self.assertRaises(sqlite.OperationalError):
+                    cx.execute('insert into test(id) values(1)')
+        finally:
+            os.remove(fn)
+
 
 class CursorTests(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
diff -r 0df85a2ebe4d Modules/_sqlite/connection.c
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c	Wed Jan 11 03:32:43 2012 -0500
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c	Wed Jan 11 21:22:19 2012 +0100
@@ -60,7 +60,11 @@
 
 int pysqlite_connection_init(pysqlite_Connection* self, PyObject* args, PyObject* kwargs)
 {
-    static char *kwlist[] = {"database", "timeout", "detect_types", "isolation_level", "check_same_thread", "factory", "cached_statements", NULL, NULL};
+    static char *kwlist[] = {"database", "timeout", "detect_types", "isolation_level", "check_same_thread", "factory", "cached_statements",
+#ifdef SQLITE_OPEN_URI
+        "uri",
+#endif
+        NULL, NULL};
 
     char* database;
     int detect_types = 0;
@@ -68,11 +72,24 @@
     PyObject* factory = NULL;
     int check_same_thread = 1;
     int cached_statements = 100;
+#ifdef SQLITE_OPEN_URI
+    int uri = 0;
+#endif
     double timeout = 5.0;
     int rc;
 
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, kwargs, "s|diOiOi", kwlist,
-                                     &database, &timeout, &detect_types, &isolation_level, &check_same_thread, &factory, &cached_statements))
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, kwargs,
+#ifdef SQLITE_OPEN_URI
+                                     "s|diOiOii",
+#else
+                                     "s|diOiOi",
+#endif
+                                     kwlist,
+                                     &database, &timeout, &detect_types, &isolation_level, &check_same_thread, &factory, &cached_statements
+#ifdef SQLITE_OPEN_URI
+                                     , &uri
+#endif
+                                     ))
     {
         return -1;
     }
@@ -92,7 +109,11 @@
     self->text_factory = (PyObject*)&PyUnicode_Type;
 
     Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
+#ifdef SQLITE_OPEN_URI
+    rc = sqlite3_open_v2(database, &self->db, SQLITE_OPEN_READWRITE | SQLITE_OPEN_CREATE | (uri ? SQLITE_OPEN_URI : 0), NULL);
+#else
     rc = sqlite3_open(database, &self->db);
+#endif
     Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS
 
     if (rc != SQLITE_OK) {
diff -r 0df85a2ebe4d Modules/_sqlite/module.c
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/module.c	Wed Jan 11 03:32:43 2012 -0500
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/module.c	Wed Jan 11 21:22:19 2012 +0100
@@ -46,28 +46,14 @@
 static PyObject* module_connect(PyObject* self, PyObject* args, PyObject*
         kwargs)
 {
-    /* Python seems to have no way of extracting a single keyword-arg at
-     * C-level, so this code is redundant with the one in connection_init in
-     * connection.c and must always be copied from there ... */
-
-    static char *kwlist[] = {"database", "timeout", "detect_types", "isolation_level", "check_same_thread", "factory", "cached_statements", NULL, NULL};
-    char* database;
-    int detect_types = 0;
-    PyObject* isolation_level;
     PyObject* factory = NULL;
-    int check_same_thread = 1;
-    int cached_statements;
-    double timeout = 5.0;
-
     PyObject* result;
 
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, kwargs, "s|diOiOi", kwlist,
-                                     &database, &timeout, &detect_types, &isolation_level, &check_same_thread, &factory, &cached_statements))
-    {
-        return NULL;
+    if (kwargs) {
+        factory = PyDict_GetItemString(kwargs, "factory");
     }
 
-    if (factory == NULL) {
+    if (factory == NULL || factory == Py_None) {
         factory = (PyObject*)&pysqlite_ConnectionType;
     }
 
@@ -77,7 +63,7 @@
 }
 
 PyDoc_STRVAR(module_connect_doc,
-"connect(database[, timeout, isolation_level, detect_types, factory])\n\
+"connect(database[, timeout, detect_types, isolation_level, check_same_thread, factory, cached_statements, uri])\n\
 \n\
 Opens a connection to the SQLite database file *database*. You can use\n\
 \":memory:\" to open a database connection to a database that resides in\n\