diff --git a/js/jquery.mobile.core.js b/js/jquery.mobile.core.js
index 754950283cb..ece5a998597 100644
--- a/js/jquery.mobile.core.js
+++ b/js/jquery.mobile.core.js
@@ -128,17 +128,7 @@
 		},
 
 		getInheritedTheme: function( el, defaultTheme ) {
-			// Find the closest parent with a theme class on it.
-			var themedParent = el.closest( "[class*='ui-bar-'],[class*='ui-body-']" ),
-	
-				// If there's a themed parent, extract the theme letter
-				// from the theme class	.
-				ltr = ( themedParent.length && /ui-(bar|body)-([a-z])\b/.exec( themedParent.attr( "class" ) )[ 2 ] || "" ) || "";
-
-			// Return the theme letter we found, if none, return the
-			// specified default.
-
-			return ltr || defaultTheme || "a";
+			return $( el ).inheritedTheme( defaultTheme );
 		}
 	});
 
@@ -167,6 +157,15 @@
 	$.jqmRemoveData = function( elem, prop ) {
 		return $.removeData( elem, $.mobile.nsNormalize( prop ) );
 	};
+	
+	$.fn.inheritedTheme = function( defaultTheme ) {
+		var ltr;
+		this.parents("[class*='ui-bar-'],[class*='ui-body-']").each(function() {
+			ltr = ( ( ltr = /ui-(bar|body)-([a-z])\b/.exec( $(this).attr("class") ) ) && ltr[ 2 ]) || "";
+			if (ltr) return false;
+		});
+		return ltr || defaultTheme || "a";
+	};
 
 	$.fn.removeWithDependents = function() {
 		$.removeWithDependents( this );