diff --git a/common/strlist.c b/common/strlist.c
index 967509c56..9bd6195f9 100644
--- a/common/strlist.c
+++ b/common/strlist.c
@@ -221,3 +221,13 @@ strlist_find (strlist_t haystack, const char *needle)
       return haystack;
   return NULL;
 }
+
+int
+strlist_length (strlist_t list)
+{
+  int i;
+  for (i = 0; list; list = list->next)
+    i ++;
+
+  return i;
+}
diff --git a/common/strlist.h b/common/strlist.h
index 5c17ce69f..fccce8704 100644
--- a/common/strlist.h
+++ b/common/strlist.h
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ strlist_t strlist_last (strlist_t node);
 char * strlist_pop (strlist_t *list);
 
 strlist_t strlist_find (strlist_t haystack, const char *needle);
+int strlist_length (strlist_t list);
 
 
 #define FREE_STRLIST(a) do { free_strlist((a)); (a) = NULL ; } while(0)