diff --git a/util.c b/util.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ea3c722
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util.c
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/* Copyright (c) 2012 The Chromium OS Authors. All rights reserved.
+ * Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+ * found in the LICENSE file.
+ */
+
+#include <ctype.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "util.h"
+
+#include "libsyscalls.h"
+
+int lookup_syscall(const char *name)
+{
+	const struct syscall_entry *entry = syscall_table;
+	for (; entry->name && entry->nr >= 0; ++entry)
+		if (!strcmp(entry->name, name))
+			return entry->nr;
+	return -1;
+}
+
+const char *lookup_syscall_name(int nr)
+{
+	const struct syscall_entry *entry = syscall_table;
+	for (; entry->name && entry->nr >= 0; ++entry)
+		if (entry->nr == nr)
+			return entry->name;
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+char *strip(char *s)
+{
+	char *end;
+	while (*s && isblank(*s))
+		s++;
+	end = s + strlen(s) - 1;
+	while (end >= s && *end && (isblank(*end) || *end == '\n'))
+		end--;
+	*(end + 1) = '\0';
+	return s;
+}