diff --git a/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.c b/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.c
index ac922c012..5bab4bd2f 100644
--- a/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.c
+++ b/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.c
@@ -364,6 +364,21 @@ again:
     return b;
 }
 
+GBytes *
+nm_g_bytes_new_from_str(const char *str)
+{
+    gsize l;
+
+    if (!str)
+        return NULL;
+
+    /* the returned array is guaranteed to have a trailing '\0'
+     * character *after* the length. */
+
+    l = strlen(str);
+    return g_bytes_new_take(nm_memdup(str, l + 1u), l);
+}
+
 /**
  * nm_utils_gbytes_equals:
  * @bytes: (allow-none): a #GBytes array to compare. Note that
diff --git a/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.h b/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.h
index 5a9a4b006..fe61459f5 100644
--- a/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.h
+++ b/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.h
@@ -319,6 +319,8 @@ nm_utils_is_separator(const char c)
 
 GBytes *nm_gbytes_get_empty(void);
 
+GBytes *nm_g_bytes_new_from_str(const char *str);
+
 static inline gboolean
 nm_gbytes_equal0(GBytes *a, GBytes *b)
 {