diff --git a/include/nm-glib-compat.h b/include/nm-glib-compat.h
index c5674ea9e..da4e2c2ce 100644
--- a/include/nm-glib-compat.h
+++ b/include/nm-glib-compat.h
@@ -180,4 +180,36 @@ nm_g_hash_table_replace (GHashTable *hash, gpointer key, gpointer value)
 }
 
 
+#if !GLIB_CHECK_VERSION(2, 40, 0) || defined (NM_GLIB_COMPAT_H_TEST)
+static inline void
+_nm_g_ptr_array_insert (GPtrArray *array,
+                        gint       index_,
+                        gpointer   data)
+{
+	g_return_if_fail (array);
+	g_return_if_fail (index_ >= -1);
+	g_return_if_fail (index_ <= (gint) array->len);
+
+	g_ptr_array_add (array, data);
+
+	if (index_ != -1 && index_ != (gint) (array->len - 1)) {
+		memmove (&(array->pdata[index_ + 1]),
+		         &(array->pdata[index_]),
+		         (array->len - index_ - 1) * sizeof (gpointer));
+		array->pdata[index_] = data;
+	}
+}
+#endif
+#if !GLIB_CHECK_VERSION(2, 40, 0)
+#define g_ptr_array_insert(array, index, data) G_STMT_START { _nm_g_ptr_array_insert (array, index, data); } G_STMT_END
+#else
+#define g_ptr_array_insert(array, index, data) \
+	G_STMT_START { \
+		G_GNUC_BEGIN_IGNORE_DEPRECATIONS \
+		g_ptr_array_insert (array, index, data); \
+		G_GNUC_END_IGNORE_DEPRECATIONS \
+	} G_STMT_END
+#endif
+
+
 #endif  /* __NM_GLIB_COMPAT_H__ */
diff --git a/libnm-core/tests/test-general.c b/libnm-core/tests/test-general.c
index 106b67606..670a0f3e9 100644
--- a/libnm-core/tests/test-general.c
+++ b/libnm-core/tests/test-general.c
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
  *
  */
 
+#define NM_GLIB_COMPAT_H_TEST
+
 #include "config.h"
 
 #include <glib.h>
@@ -59,6 +61,7 @@
 #include "nm-setting-wireless-security.h"
 #include "nm-simple-connection.h"
 #include "nm-keyfile-internal.h"
+#include "nm-glib-compat.h"
 
 #include "nm-test-utils.h"
 
@@ -4455,6 +4458,31 @@ again:
 
 /******************************************************************************/
 
+static void
+test_g_ptr_array_insert (void)
+{
+	/* this test only makes sense on a recent glib, where we compare our compat
+	 * with the original implementation. */
+#if GLIB_CHECK_VERSION(2, 40, 0)
+	gs_unref_ptrarray GPtrArray *arr1 = g_ptr_array_new ();
+	gs_unref_ptrarray GPtrArray *arr2 = g_ptr_array_new ();
+	GRand *rand = nmtst_get_rand ();
+	guint i;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < 560; i++) {
+		gint32 idx = g_rand_int_range (rand, -1, arr1->len + 1);
+
+		g_ptr_array_insert (arr1, idx, GINT_TO_POINTER (i));
+		_nm_g_ptr_array_insert (arr2, idx, GINT_TO_POINTER (i));
+
+		g_assert_cmpint (arr1->len, ==, arr2->len);
+		g_assert (memcmp (arr1->pdata, arr2->pdata, arr1->len * sizeof (gpointer)) == 0);
+	}
+#endif
+}
+
+/******************************************************************************/
+
 NMTST_DEFINE ();
 
 int main (int argc, char **argv)
@@ -4557,6 +4585,7 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 
 	g_test_add_func ("/core/general/_nm_utils_ascii_str_to_int64", test_nm_utils_ascii_str_to_int64);
 	g_test_add_func ("/core/general/nm_utils_is_power_of_two", test_nm_utils_is_power_of_two);
+	g_test_add_func ("/core/general/_glib_compat_g_ptr_array_insert", test_g_ptr_array_insert);
 
 	g_test_add_func ("/core/general/_nm_utils_dns_option_validate", test_nm_utils_dns_option_validate);
 	g_test_add_func ("/core/general/_nm_utils_dns_option_find_idx", test_nm_utils_dns_option_find_idx);