diff --git a/nbconvert/filters/__init__.py b/nbconvert/filters/__init__.py
index 0a0e7c48b..4285c8bcc 100755
--- a/nbconvert/filters/__init__.py
+++ b/nbconvert/filters/__init__.py
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@
 from .metadata import *
 from .pandoc import *
 
-from ipython_genutils.text import indent
+from nbconvert.utils.text import indent
diff --git a/nbconvert/nbconvertapp.py b/nbconvert/nbconvertapp.py
index 153a90466..dcb6bcaac 100755
--- a/nbconvert/nbconvertapp.py
+++ b/nbconvert/nbconvertapp.py
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@
 import glob
 import asyncio
 from textwrap import fill, dedent
-from ipython_genutils.text import indent
 
 from jupyter_core.application import JupyterApp, base_aliases, base_flags
+from nbconvert.utils.text import indent
 from traitlets.config import catch_config_error, Configurable
 from traitlets import (
     Unicode, List, Instance, DottedObjectName, Type, Bool,
diff --git a/nbconvert/utils/io.py b/nbconvert/utils/io.py
index 42ddec478..ad2d1ace0 100644
--- a/nbconvert/utils/io.py
+++ b/nbconvert/utils/io.py
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@
 # Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
 
 import codecs
+import errno
+import os
+import random
+import shutil
 import sys
 
 def unicode_std_stream(stream='stdout'):
@@ -48,3 +52,81 @@ def unicode_stdin_stream():
 class FormatSafeDict(dict):
     def __missing__(self, key):
         return '{' + key + '}'
+
+
+try:
+    ENOLINK = errno.ENOLINK
+except AttributeError:
+    ENOLINK = 1998
+
+
+def link(src, dst):
+    """Hard links ``src`` to ``dst``, returning 0 or errno.
+
+    Note that the special errno ``ENOLINK`` will be returned if ``os.link`` isn't
+    supported by the operating system.
+    """
+
+    if not hasattr(os, "link"):
+        return ENOLINK
+    link_errno = 0
+    try:
+        os.link(src, dst)
+    except OSError as e:
+        link_errno = e.errno
+    return link_errno
+
+
+def link_or_copy(src, dst):
+    """Attempts to hardlink ``src`` to ``dst``, copying if the link fails.
+
+    Attempts to maintain the semantics of ``shutil.copy``.
+
+    Because ``os.link`` does not overwrite files, a unique temporary file
+    will be used if the target already exists, then that file will be moved
+    into place.
+    """
+
+    if os.path.isdir(dst):
+        dst = os.path.join(dst, os.path.basename(src))
+
+    link_errno = link(src, dst)
+    if link_errno == errno.EEXIST:
+        if os.stat(src).st_ino == os.stat(dst).st_ino:
+            # dst is already a hard link to the correct file, so we don't need
+            # to do anything else. If we try to link and rename the file
+            # anyway, we get duplicate files - see http://bugs.python.org/issue21876
+            return
+
+        new_dst = dst + "-temp-%04X" %(random.randint(1, 16**4), )
+        try:
+            link_or_copy(src, new_dst)
+        except:
+            try:
+                os.remove(new_dst)
+            except OSError:
+                pass
+            raise
+        os.rename(new_dst, dst)
+    elif link_errno != 0:
+        # Either link isn't supported, or the filesystem doesn't support
+        # linking, or 'src' and 'dst' are on different filesystems.
+        shutil.copy(src, dst)
+
+
+def ensure_dir_exists(path, mode=0o755):
+    """ensure that a directory exists
+
+    If it doesn't exist, try to create it and protect against a race condition
+    if another process is doing the same.
+
+    The default permissions are 755, which differ from os.makedirs default of 777.
+    """
+    if not os.path.exists(path):
+        try:
+            os.makedirs(path, mode=mode)
+        except OSError as e:
+            if e.errno != errno.EEXIST:
+                raise
+    elif not os.path.isdir(path):
+        raise IOError("%r exists but is not a directory" % path)
diff --git a/nbconvert/utils/text.py b/nbconvert/utils/text.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8ed3ea966
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nbconvert/utils/text.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import os
+import re
+
+
+def indent(instr, nspaces=4, ntabs=0, flatten=False):
+    """Indent a string a given number of spaces or tabstops.
+
+    indent(str,nspaces=4,ntabs=0) -> indent str by ntabs+nspaces.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+
+    instr : basestring
+        The string to be indented.
+    nspaces : int (default: 4)
+        The number of spaces to be indented.
+    ntabs : int (default: 0)
+        The number of tabs to be indented.
+    flatten : bool (default: False)
+        Whether to scrub existing indentation.  If True, all lines will be
+        aligned to the same indentation.  If False, existing indentation will
+        be strictly increased.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+
+    str|unicode : string indented by ntabs and nspaces.
+
+    """
+    if instr is None:
+        return
+    ind = '\t' * ntabs + ' ' * nspaces
+    if flatten:
+        pat = re.compile(r'^\s*', re.MULTILINE)
+    else:
+        pat = re.compile(r'^', re.MULTILINE)
+    outstr = re.sub(pat, ind, instr)
+    if outstr.endswith(os.linesep + ind):
+        return outstr[:-len(ind)]
+    else:
+        return outstr
diff --git a/nbconvert/writers/files.py b/nbconvert/writers/files.py
index 28f88eebd..bd12c73c7 100644
--- a/nbconvert/writers/files.py
+++ b/nbconvert/writers/files.py
@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@
 import glob
 
 from pathlib import Path
+
+from nbconvert.utils.io import ensure_dir_exists, link_or_copy
 from traitlets import Unicode, observe
-from ipython_genutils.path import link_or_copy, ensure_dir_exists
+
 
 from .base import WriterBase