diff --git a/client/util.c b/client/util.c
index ffe55a781..4a256e0b2 100644
--- a/client/util.c
+++ b/client/util.c
@@ -817,6 +817,9 @@ extern void str_lower(char *s ){
 	for(int i=0; i < strlen(s); i++)
 		s[i] = tolower( s[i] );
 }
+extern bool str_startswith(const char *s,  const char *pre) {	
+    return strncmp(pre, s, strlen(pre)) == 0;
+}
 
 // Replace unprintable characters with a dot in char buffer
 extern void clean_ascii(unsigned char *buf, size_t len) {
diff --git a/client/util.h b/client/util.h
index fb559ea1d..637bfb3ca 100644
--- a/client/util.h
+++ b/client/util.h
@@ -247,6 +247,7 @@ extern uint64_t HornerScheme(uint64_t num, uint64_t divider, uint64_t factor);
 extern int num_CPUs(void);			// number of logical CPUs
 
 extern void str_lower(char* s);	 // converts string to lower case
+extern bool str_startswith(const char *s,  const char *pre);  // check for prefix in string
 extern void strcleanrn(char *buf, size_t len);
 extern void strcreplace(char *buf, size_t len, char from, char to);
 extern char *strmcopy(char *buf);