diff --git a/libraries/AP_Scripting/lua_bindings.cpp b/libraries/AP_Scripting/lua_bindings.cpp
index d27cd3c564..5ff19db42e 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_Scripting/lua_bindings.cpp
+++ b/libraries/AP_Scripting/lua_bindings.cpp
@@ -44,12 +44,16 @@ int lua_micros(lua_State *L) {
 }
 
 int lua_mavlink_init(lua_State *L) {
-    binding_argcheck(L, 2);
+
+    // Allow : and . access
+    const int arg_offset = (luaL_testudata(L, 1, "mavlink") != NULL) ? 1 : 0;
+
+    binding_argcheck(L, 2+arg_offset);
     WITH_SEMAPHORE(AP::scripting()->mavlink_data.sem);
     // get the depth of receive queue
-    const uint32_t queue_size = get_uint32(L, -1, 0, 25);
+    const uint32_t queue_size = get_uint32(L, 1+arg_offset, 0, 25);
     // get number of msgs to accept
-    const uint32_t num_msgs = get_uint32(L, -2, 0, 25);
+    const uint32_t num_msgs = get_uint32(L, 2+arg_offset, 0, 25);
 
     struct AP_Scripting::mavlink &data = AP::scripting()->mavlink_data;
     if (data.rx_buffer == nullptr) {
@@ -70,7 +74,11 @@ int lua_mavlink_init(lua_State *L) {
 }
 
 int lua_mavlink_receive_chan(lua_State *L) {
-    binding_argcheck(L, 0);
+
+    // Allow : and . access
+    const int arg_offset = (luaL_testudata(L, 1, "mavlink") != NULL) ? 1 : 0;
+
+    binding_argcheck(L, arg_offset);
 
     struct AP_Scripting::mavlink_msg msg;
     ObjectBuffer<struct AP_Scripting::mavlink_msg> *rx_buffer = AP::scripting()->mavlink_data.rx_buffer;
@@ -85,7 +93,8 @@ int lua_mavlink_receive_chan(lua_State *L) {
         luaL_addlstring(&b, (char *)&msg.msg, sizeof(msg.msg));
         luaL_pushresult(&b);
         lua_pushinteger(L, msg.chan);
-        lua_pushinteger(L, msg.timestamp_ms);
+        new_uint32_t(L);
+        *check_uint32_t(L, -1) = msg.timestamp_ms;
         return 3;
     } else {
         // no MAVLink to handle, just return no results
@@ -94,9 +103,13 @@ int lua_mavlink_receive_chan(lua_State *L) {
 }
 
 int lua_mavlink_register_rx_msgid(lua_State *L) {
-    binding_argcheck(L, 1);
-    
-    const uint32_t msgid = get_uint32(L, -1, 0, (1 << 24) - 1);
+
+    // Allow : and . access
+    const int arg_offset = (luaL_testudata(L, 1, "mavlink") != NULL) ? 1 : 0;
+
+    binding_argcheck(L, 1+arg_offset);
+
+    const uint32_t msgid = get_uint32(L, 1+arg_offset, 0, (1 << 24) - 1);
 
     struct AP_Scripting::mavlink &data = AP::scripting()->mavlink_data;
 
@@ -129,13 +142,17 @@ int lua_mavlink_register_rx_msgid(lua_State *L) {
 }
 
 int lua_mavlink_send_chan(lua_State *L) {
-    binding_argcheck(L, 3);
+
+    // Allow : and . access
+    const int arg_offset = (luaL_testudata(L, 1, "mavlink") != NULL) ? 1 : 0;
+
+    binding_argcheck(L, 3+arg_offset);
     
-    const mavlink_channel_t chan = (mavlink_channel_t)get_uint32(L, 1, 0, MAVLINK_COMM_NUM_BUFFERS - 1);
+    const mavlink_channel_t chan = (mavlink_channel_t)get_uint32(L, 1+arg_offset, 0, MAVLINK_COMM_NUM_BUFFERS - 1);
 
-    const uint32_t msgid = get_uint32(L, 2, 0, (1 << 24) - 1);
+    const uint32_t msgid = get_uint32(L, 2+arg_offset, 0, (1 << 24) - 1);
 
-    const char *packet = luaL_checkstring(L, 3);
+    const char *packet = luaL_checkstring(L, 3+arg_offset);
 
     // FIXME: The data that's in this mavlink_msg_entry_t should be provided from the script, which allows
     //        sending entirely new messages as outputs. At the moment we can only encode messages that