diff --git a/libbb/full_read.c b/libbb/full_read.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e9c4bbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libbb/full_read.c
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+/* vi: set sw=4 ts=4: */
+/*
+ * Utility routines.
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) tons of folks.  Tracking down who wrote what
+ * isn't something I'm going to worry about...  If you wrote something
+ * here, please feel free to acknowledge your work.
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of 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.
+ *
+ * This program 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 a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+ *
+ * Based in part on code from sash, Copyright (c) 1999 by David I. Bell 
+ * Permission has been granted to redistribute this code under the GPL.
+ *
+ */
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include "libbb.h"
+
+
+/*
+ * Read all of the supplied buffer from a file.
+ * This does multiple reads as necessary.
+ * Returns the amount read, or -1 on an error.
+ * A short read is returned on an end of file.
+ */
+int full_read(int fd, char *buf, int len)
+{
+	int cc;
+	int total;
+
+	total = 0;
+
+	while (len > 0) {
+		cc = read(fd, buf, len);
+
+		if (cc < 0)
+			return -1;
+
+		if (cc == 0)
+			break;
+
+		buf += cc;
+		total += cc;
+		len -= cc;
+	}
+
+	return total;
+}
+
+/* END CODE */
+/*
+Local Variables:
+c-file-style: "linux"
+c-basic-offset: 4
+tab-width: 4
+End:
+*/