diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index c2c7af44f..1183d311b 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -501,6 +501,7 @@ libnm_core_lib_h_priv = \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-dedup-multi.h \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-enum-utils.h \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-hash-utils.h \
+	shared/nm-utils/nm-io-utils.h \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-secret-utils.h \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-shared-utils.h \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-random-utils.h \
@@ -568,6 +569,7 @@ libnm_core_lib_c_real = \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-dedup-multi.c \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-enum-utils.c \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-hash-utils.c \
+	shared/nm-utils/nm-io-utils.c \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-secret-utils.c \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-shared-utils.c \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-random-utils.c \
@@ -4735,6 +4737,8 @@ EXTRA_DIST += \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-compat.c \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-compat.h \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-glib.h \
+	shared/nm-utils/nm-io-utils.c \
+	shared/nm-utils/nm-io-utils.h \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-jansson.h \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-obj.h \
 	shared/nm-utils/nm-macros-internal.h \
diff --git a/shared/meson.build b/shared/meson.build
index c14b9d723..e1cf620bf 100644
--- a/shared/meson.build
+++ b/shared/meson.build
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ shared_files_libnm_core = files('''
     nm-utils/nm-dedup-multi.c
     nm-utils/nm-enum-utils.c
     nm-utils/nm-hash-utils.c
+    nm-utils/nm-io-utils.c
     nm-utils/nm-random-utils.c
     nm-utils/nm-secret-utils.c
     nm-utils/nm-shared-utils.c
diff --git a/shared/nm-utils/nm-io-utils.c b/shared/nm-utils/nm-io-utils.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..69403c27f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shared/nm-utils/nm-io-utils.c
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/* -*- Mode: C; tab-width: 4; indent-tabs-mode: t; c-basic-offset: 4 -*- */
+/* NetworkManager -- Network link manager
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library 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
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the
+ * Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
+ * Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * (C) Copyright 2018 Red Hat, Inc.
+ */
+
+#include "nm-default.h"
+
+#include "nm-io-utils.h"
+
+/*****************************************************************************/
diff --git a/shared/nm-utils/nm-io-utils.h b/shared/nm-utils/nm-io-utils.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e632deb89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shared/nm-utils/nm-io-utils.h
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+/* -*- Mode: C; tab-width: 4; indent-tabs-mode: t; c-basic-offset: 4 -*- */
+/* NetworkManager -- Network link manager
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library 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
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the
+ * Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
+ * Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * (C) Copyright 2018 Red Hat, Inc.
+ */
+
+#ifndef __NM_IO_UTILS_H__
+#define __NM_IO_UTILS_H__
+
+#include "nm-macros-internal.h"
+
+/*****************************************************************************/
+
+#endif /* __NM_IO_UTILS_H__ */