diff --git a/src/helpers.c b/src/helpers.c
index 5e648f85..5f551b33 100644
--- a/src/helpers.c
+++ b/src/helpers.c
@@ -584,6 +584,21 @@ out_fds:
 	return ret;
 }
 
+/* Return a duplicated copy of the string using strdup().
+ * Abort if there's no memory to allocate the new string.
+*/
+char *strdup_or_die(const char *const str)
+{
+	char *result;
+
+	result = strdup(str);
+	if (!result) {
+		abort();
+	}
+
+	return result;
+}
+
 void string_or_die(char **strp, const char *fmt, ...)
 {
 	va_list ap;
diff --git a/src/swupd.h b/src/swupd.h
index d31273a1..dc7406b7 100644
--- a/src/swupd.h
+++ b/src/swupd.h
@@ -357,6 +357,7 @@ extern void print_manifest_files(struct manifest *m);
 extern void swupd_deinit(int lock_fd, struct list **subs);
 extern int swupd_init(int *lock_fd);
 extern void string_or_die(char **strp, const char *fmt, ...);
+char *strdup_or_die(const char *const str);
 extern void free_string(char **s);
 void update_motd(int new_release);
 void delete_motd(void);