diff --git a/lib/xstrndup.c b/lib/xstrndup.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a257aa9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/xstrndup.c
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/* Convenience function for string allocation.
+   Copyright (C) 2006, 2015 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/>.  */
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+# include <config.h>
+#endif
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include "libeu.h"
+#include "system.h"
+
+/* Return a newly allocated copy of STRING.  */
+char *
+xstrndup (const char *string, size_t n)
+{
+  char *res;
+  size_t len = strnlen (string, n);
+  *((char *) mempcpy ((res = xmalloc (len + 1)), string, len)) = '\0';
+  return res;
+}