diff --git a/src/utils/stringutils.h b/src/utils/stringutils.h
index 37b1ffd7a..513ba9172 100644
--- a/src/utils/stringutils.h
+++ b/src/utils/stringutils.h
@@ -1,25 +1,38 @@
 /*
     utils/string.h
 
     This file is part of libkleopatra
     SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2021 g10 Code GmbH
     SPDX-FileContributor: Ingo Klöcker <dev@ingo-kloecker.de>
 
     SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
 */
 
 #pragma once
 
 #include "kleo_export.h"
 
 #include <string>
+#include <string_view>
 #include <vector>
 
 namespace Kleo
 {
 
 /** Splits the string @p s into substrings wherever the character @p c occurs,
  *  and returns the list of those strings. */
 KLEO_EXPORT std::vector<std::string> split(const std::string &s, char c);
 
+/**
+ * Returns true if the string @p sv begins with the string @p prefix, false
+ * otherwise.
+ */
+inline bool startsWith(std::string_view sv, std::string_view prefix)
+{
+#ifdef __cpp_lib_starts_ends_with
+    return sv.starts_with(prefix);
+#else
+    return sv.substr(0, prefix.size()) == prefix;
+#endif
+}
 }