diff --git a/tools/gpio/gpio-utils.h b/tools/gpio/gpio-utils.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..344ea04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/gpio/gpio-utils.h
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+/*
+ * GPIO tools - utility helpers library for the GPIO tools
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 Linus Walleij
+ *
+ * Portions copied from iio_utils and lssio:
+ * Copyright (c) 2010 Manuel Stahl <manuel.stahl@iis.fraunhofer.de>
+ * Copyright (c) 2008 Jonathan Cameron
+ * *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation.
+ */
+#ifndef _GPIO_UTILS_H_
+#define _GPIO_UTILS_H_
+
+#include <string.h>
+
+#define ARRAY_SIZE(arr) (sizeof(arr) / sizeof((arr)[0]))
+
+static inline int check_prefix(const char *str, const char *prefix)
+{
+	return strlen(str) > strlen(prefix) &&
+		strncmp(str, prefix, strlen(prefix)) == 0;
+}
+
+int gpiotools_request_linehandle(const char *device_name, unsigned int *lines,
+				 unsigned int nlines, unsigned int flag,
+				 struct gpiohandle_data *data,
+				 const char *consumer_label);
+int gpiotools_set_values(const int fd, struct gpiohandle_data *data);
+int gpiotools_get_values(const int fd, struct gpiohandle_data *data);
+int gpiotools_release_linehandle(const int fd);
+
+int gpiotools_get(const char *device_name, unsigned int line);
+int gpiotools_gets(const char *device_name, unsigned int *lines,
+		   unsigned int nlines, struct gpiohandle_data *data);
+int gpiotools_set(const char *device_name, unsigned int line,
+		  unsigned int value);
+int gpiotools_sets(const char *device_name, unsigned int *lines,
+		   unsigned int nlines, struct gpiohandle_data *data);
+
+#endif /* _GPIO_UTILS_H_ */