diff --git a/lib/system.h b/lib/system.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9203335
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/system.h
@@ -0,0 +1,154 @@
+/* Declarations for common convenience functions.
+   Copyright (C) 2006-2011 Red Hat, Inc.
+   This file is part of elfutils.
+
+   This file is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of either
+
+     * the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free
+       Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at
+       your option) any later version
+
+   or
+
+     * the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
+       Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
+       your option) any later version
+
+   or both in parallel, as here.
+
+   elfutils is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+   WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+   General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received copies of the GNU General Public License and
+   the GNU Lesser General Public License along with this program.  If
+   not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.  */
+
+#ifndef LIB_SYSTEM_H
+#define LIB_SYSTEM_H	1
+
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <stddef.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <sys/param.h>
+#include <endian.h>
+#include <byteswap.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#if __BYTE_ORDER == __LITTLE_ENDIAN
+# define LE32(n)	(n)
+# define LE64(n)	(n)
+# define BE32(n)	bswap_32 (n)
+# define BE64(n)	bswap_64 (n)
+#elif __BYTE_ORDER == __BIG_ENDIAN
+# define BE32(n)	(n)
+# define BE64(n)	(n)
+# define LE32(n)	bswap_32 (n)
+# define LE64(n)	bswap_64 (n)
+#else
+# error "Unknown byte order"
+#endif
+
+#ifndef MAX
+#define MAX(m, n) ((m) < (n) ? (n) : (m))
+#endif
+
+#ifndef MIN
+#define MIN(m, n) ((m) < (n) ? (m) : (n))
+#endif
+
+#if !HAVE_DECL_POWEROF2
+#define powerof2(x) (((x) & ((x) - 1)) == 0)
+#endif
+
+#if !HAVE_DECL_MEMPCPY
+#define mempcpy(dest, src, n) \
+    ((void *) ((char *) memcpy (dest, src, n) + (size_t) n))
+#endif
+
+/* A special gettext function we use if the strings are too short.  */
+#define sgettext(Str) \
+  ({ const char *__res = strrchr (gettext (Str), '|');			      \
+     __res ? __res + 1 : Str; })
+
+#define gettext_noop(Str) Str
+
+#ifndef TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY
+#define TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY(expression) \
+  ({ ssize_t __res; \
+     do \
+       __res = expression; \
+     while (__res == -1 && errno == EINTR); \
+     __res; })
+#endif
+
+static inline ssize_t __attribute__ ((unused))
+pwrite_retry (int fd, const void *buf, size_t len, off_t off)
+{
+  ssize_t recvd = 0;
+
+  do
+    {
+      ssize_t ret = TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY (pwrite (fd, buf + recvd, len - recvd,
+						off + recvd));
+      if (ret <= 0)
+	return ret < 0 ? ret : recvd;
+
+      recvd += ret;
+    }
+  while ((size_t) recvd < len);
+
+  return recvd;
+}
+
+static inline ssize_t __attribute__ ((unused))
+write_retry (int fd, const void *buf, size_t len)
+{
+  ssize_t recvd = 0;
+
+  do
+    {
+      ssize_t ret = TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY (write (fd, buf + recvd, len - recvd));
+      if (ret <= 0)
+	return ret < 0 ? ret : recvd;
+
+      recvd += ret;
+    }
+  while ((size_t) recvd < len);
+
+  return recvd;
+}
+
+static inline ssize_t __attribute__ ((unused))
+pread_retry (int fd, void *buf, size_t len, off_t off)
+{
+  ssize_t recvd = 0;
+
+  do
+    {
+      ssize_t ret = TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY (pread (fd, buf + recvd, len - recvd,
+					       off + recvd));
+      if (ret <= 0)
+	return ret < 0 ? ret : recvd;
+
+      recvd += ret;
+    }
+  while ((size_t) recvd < len);
+
+  return recvd;
+}
+
+/* The demangler from libstdc++.  */
+extern char *__cxa_demangle (const char *mangled_name, char *output_buffer,
+			     size_t *length, int *status);
+
+/* A static assertion.  This will cause a compile-time error if EXPR,
+   which must be a compile-time constant, is false.  */
+
+#define eu_static_assert(expr)						\
+  extern int never_defined_just_used_for_checking[(expr) ? 1 : -1]	\
+    __attribute__ ((unused))
+
+#endif /* system.h */