diff --git a/openerp/tools/convert.py b/openerp/tools/convert.py
index 8269fa5d7ff..cee414c2825 100644
--- a/openerp/tools/convert.py
+++ b/openerp/tools/convert.py
@@ -593,18 +593,8 @@ form: module.record_id""" % (xml_id,)
             a_action = rec.get('action','').encode('utf8')
 
             # determine the type of action
-            if '.' in a_action:
-                # action referring to another module
-                a_action_module, a_action_name = a_action.split('.')
-            else:
-                # local action: use current module
-                a_action_module = self.module
-                a_action_name = a_action
-
-            # fetch the model and the res id
-            ir_action_ref = self.pool.get('ir.model.data').get_object_reference(cr, self.uid, a_action_module, a_action_name)
-            # get the part of the model we need
-            a_type = ir_action_ref[0].split('.')[-1]
+            a_type, a_id = self.model_id_get(a_action)
+            a_type = a_type.split('.')[-1] # keep only type part
 
             icons = {
                 "act_window": 'STOCK_NEW',
@@ -617,7 +607,6 @@ form: module.record_id""" % (xml_id,)
             values['icon'] = icons.get(a_type,'STOCK_NEW')
 
             if a_type=='act_window':
-                a_id = self.id_get(cr, a_action)
                 cr.execute('select view_type,view_mode,name,view_id,target from ir_act_window where id=%s', (int(a_id),))
                 rrres = cr.fetchone()
                 assert rrres, "No window action defined for this id %s !\n" \
@@ -644,7 +633,6 @@ form: module.record_id""" % (xml_id,)
                     values['name'] = action_name
 
             elif a_type in ['wizard', 'url', 'client', 'server'] and not values.get('name'):
-                a_id = self.id_get(cr, a_action)
                 a_table = 'ir_act_%s' % a_type
                 cr.execute('select name from %s where id=%%s' % a_table, (int(a_id),))
                 resw = cr.fetchone()
@@ -682,9 +670,6 @@ form: module.record_id""" % (xml_id,)
             self.idref[rec_id] = int(pid)
 
         if rec.get('action') and pid:
-            a_action = rec.get('action').encode('utf8')
-            a_type = rec.get('type','').encode('utf8') or 'act_window'
-            a_id = self.id_get(cr, a_action)
             action = "ir.actions.%s,%d" % (a_type, a_id)
             self.pool.get('ir.model.data').ir_set(cr, self.uid, 'action', 'tree_but_open', 'Menuitem', [('ir.ui.menu', int(pid))], action, True, True, xml_id=rec_id)
         return ('ir.ui.menu', pid)