diff --git a/lib/puppet/provider/package/pkg.rb b/lib/puppet/provider/package/pkg.rb
index 52fbec081..399a9df76 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/provider/package/pkg.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/provider/package/pkg.rb
@@ -1,101 +1,96 @@
 require 'puppet/provider/package'
 
 Puppet::Type.type(:package).provide :pkg, :parent => Puppet::Provider::Package do
   desc "OpenSolaris image packaging system. See pkg(5) for more information"
 
   commands :pkg => "/usr/bin/pkg"
 
   confine :operatingsystem => :solaris
 
   #defaultfor [:operatingsystem => :solaris, :kernelrelease => "5.11"]
 
   def self.instances
     packages = []
 
-    cmd = "#{command(:pkg)} list -H"
-    execpipe(cmd) do |process|
-      hash = {}
-
+    pkg(:list, '-H').each_line do |line|
       # now turn each returned line into a package object
-      process.each_line { |line|
-        if hash = parse_line(line)
-          packages << new(hash)
-        end
-      }
+      if hash = parse_line(line.chomp)
+        packages << new(hash)
+      end
     end
 
     packages
   end
 
-  self::REGEX = %r{^(\S+)\s+(\S+)\s+(\S+)\s+}
+  self::REGEX = /^(\S+)(?:\s+\(.*?\))?\s+(\S+)\s+(\S+)\s+\S+$/
   self::FIELDS = [:name, :version, :status]
 
   def self.parse_line(line)
     hash = {}
     if match = self::REGEX.match(line)
 
       self::FIELDS.zip(match.captures) { |field,value|
         hash[field] = value
       }
 
       hash[:provider] = self.name
 
       if hash[:status] == "installed"
         hash[:ensure] = :present
       else
         hash[:ensure] = :absent
       end
     else
       warning "Failed to match 'pkg list' line #{line.inspect}"
       return nil
     end
 
     hash
   end
 
   # return the version of the package
   # TODO deal with multiple publishers
   def latest
     version = nil
-    pkg(:list, "-Ha", @resource[:name]).split("\n").each do |line|
-      v = line.split[2]
+    pkg(:list, "-Ha", @resource[:name]).each_line do |line|
+      v = parse_line(line.chomp)[:status]
       case v
       when "known"
         return v
       when "installed"
         version = v
       else
         Puppet.warn "unknown package state for #{@resource[:name]}: #{v}"
       end
     end
     version
   end
 
   # install the package
   def install
     pkg :install, @resource[:name]
   end
 
   # uninstall the package
   def uninstall
     pkg :uninstall, '-r', @resource[:name]
   end
 
   # update the package to the latest version available
   def update
     self.install
   end
 
   # list a specific package
   def query
     begin
       output = pkg(:list, "-H", @resource[:name])
     rescue Puppet::ExecutionFailure
       # pkg returns 1 if the package is not found.
       return {:ensure => :absent, :name => @resource[:name]}
     end
 
-    hash = self.class.parse_line(output) || {:ensure => :absent, :name => @resource[:name]}
+    hash = self.class.parse_line(output.chomp) || {:ensure => :absent, :name => @resource[:name]}
     hash
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/unit/provider/package/pkg/dummy b/spec/fixtures/unit/provider/package/pkg/dummy
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2d56c39a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/unit/provider/package/pkg/dummy
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+dummy                                     2.5.5-0.111     installed  ----
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/unit/provider/package/pkg/incomplete b/spec/fixtures/unit/provider/package/pkg/incomplete
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..24a93d10a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/unit/provider/package/pkg/incomplete
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+dummy                                     2.5.5-0.111     installed  ---- RANDOM_TRASH  
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/unit/provider/package/pkg/publisher b/spec/fixtures/unit/provider/package/pkg/publisher
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..23be5b69f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/unit/provider/package/pkg/publisher
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+SUNWpcre (solaris)                            8.8-0.111       installed  ----
+service/network/ssh (solaris)                 0.5.11-0.151.0.1 installed  -----
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/unit/provider/package/pkg/simple b/spec/fixtures/unit/provider/package/pkg/simple
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..80bb41389
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/unit/provider/package/pkg/simple
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+SUNPython                                     2.5.5-0.111     installed  ----
+SUNWbind                                      9.3.6.1-0.111   installed  ----
+SUNWdistro-license-copyright                  0.5.11-0.111    installed  ----
+SUNWfppd                                      0.2008.8.18-0.111 installed  ----
diff --git a/spec/unit/provider/package/pkg_spec.rb b/spec/unit/provider/package/pkg_spec.rb
index dd182c81e..f5cbc6ec5 100755
--- a/spec/unit/provider/package/pkg_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/provider/package/pkg_spec.rb
@@ -1,63 +1,85 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env rspec
 require 'spec_helper'
 
 describe Puppet::Type.type(:package).provider(:pkg) do
   before :each do
     @resource = Puppet::Resource.new(:package, 'dummy', :parameters => {:name => 'dummy', :ensure => :latest})
     @provider = described_class.new(@resource)
   end
 
   def self.it_should_respond_to(*actions)
     actions.each do |action|
       it "should respond to :#{action}" do
         @provider.should respond_to(action)
       end
     end
   end
 
   it_should_respond_to :install, :uninstall, :update, :query, :latest
 
   it "should not be versionable" do
     described_class.should_not be_versionable
   end
 
   it "should use :install to update" do
     @provider.expects(:install)
     @provider.update
   end
 
-  it "should parse a line correctly" do
-    result = described_class.parse_line("dummy 1.0@1.0-1.0 installed ----")
-    result.should == {:name => "dummy", :version => "1.0@1.0-1.0",
-      :ensure => :present, :status => "installed",
-      :provider => :pkg}
-  end
+  describe "when calling instances" do
+    it "should correctly parse lines with preferred publisher" do
+      described_class.expects(:pkg).with(:list,'-H').returns File.read(my_fixture('simple'))
+      @instances = described_class.instances.map { |p| Hash.new(:name => p.get(:name), :ensure => p.get(:ensure)) }
+      @instances.size.should == 4
+      @instances[0].should eql Hash.new(:name => 'SUNPython', :ensure => :present)
+      @instances[1].should eql Hash.new(:name => 'SUNWbind', :ensure => :present)
+      @instances[2].should eql Hash.new(:name => 'SUNWdistro-license-copyright', :ensure => :present)
+      @instances[3].should eql Hash.new(:name => 'SUNWfppd', :ensure => :present)
+    end
 
-  it "should fail to parse an incorrect line" do
-    result = described_class.parse_line("foo")
-    result.should be_nil
-  end
+    it "should correctly parse lines with non preferred publisher" do
+      described_class.expects(:pkg).with(:list,'-H').returns File.read(my_fixture('publisher'))
+      @instances = described_class.instances.map { |p| Hash.new(:name => p.get(:name), :ensure => p.get(:ensure)) }
+      @instances.size.should == 2
+      @instances[0].should eql Hash.new(:name => 'SUNWpcre', :ensure => :present)
+      @instances[1].should eql Hash.new(:name => 'service/network/ssh', :ensure => :present)
+    end
 
-  it "should fail to list a missing package" do
-    # I dont know what the acutal error looks like, but according to type/pkg.rb we're just
-    # reacting on the Exception anyways
-    @provider.expects(:pkg).with(:list, "-H", "dummy").raises Puppet::ExecutionFailure, 'Not found'
-    @provider.query.should == {:ensure => :absent, :name => "dummy"}
+    it "should warn about incorrect lines" do
+      fake_output = File.read(my_fixture('incomplete'))
+      error_line = fake_output.lines[0]
+      described_class.expects(:pkg).with(:list,'-H').returns fake_output
+      described_class.expects(:warning).with "Failed to match 'pkg list' line #{error_line.inspect}"
+      described_class.instances
+    end
   end
 
-  it "should fail to list a package when it can't parse the output line" do
-    @provider.expects(:pkg).with(:list, "-H", "dummy").returns "failed"
-    @provider.query.should == {:ensure => :absent, :name => "dummy"}
-  end
+  describe "when query a package" do
+    it "should find the package" do
+      @provider.stubs(:pkg).with(:list,'-H','dummy').returns File.read(my_fixture('dummy'))
+      @provider.query.should == {
+        :name     => 'dummy',
+        :ensure   => :present,
+        :version  => '2.5.5-0.111',
+        :status   => "installed",
+        :provider => :pkg,
+      }
+    end
+
+    it "should return :absent when the package is not found" do
+      # I dont know what the acutal error looks like, but according to type/pkg.rb we're just
+      # reacting on the Exception anyways
+      @provider.expects(:pkg).with(:list, "-H", "dummy").raises Puppet::ExecutionFailure, 'Not found'
+      @provider.query.should == {:ensure => :absent, :name => "dummy"}
+    end
 
-  it "should list package correctly" do
-    @provider.expects(:pkg).with(:list, "-H", "dummy").returns "dummy 1.0@1.0-1.0 installed ----"
-    @provider.query.should == {
-      :name     => "dummy",
-      :version  => "1.0@1.0-1.0",
-      :ensure   => :present,
-      :status   => "installed",
-      :provider => :pkg
-    }
+    it "should return :absent when the packageline cannot be parsed" do
+      @provider.stubs(:pkg).with(:list,'-H','dummy').returns File.read(my_fixture('incomplete'))
+      @provider.query.should == {
+        :name   => 'dummy',
+        :ensure => :absent
+      }
+    end
   end
+
 end