diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index bb5c91e712..0ca7df8e02 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -193,6 +193,7 @@
 /test-run-command
 /test-sha1
 /test-sigchain
+/test-string-list
 /test-subprocess
 /test-svn-fe
 /common-cmds.h
diff --git a/Documentation/technical/api-string-list.txt b/Documentation/technical/api-string-list.txt
index 113f8410ea..1dcad47f7c 100644
--- a/Documentation/technical/api-string-list.txt
+++ b/Documentation/technical/api-string-list.txt
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ member (you need this if you add things later) and you should set the
 `nr` and `alloc` members in that case, too.
 
 . Adds new items to the list, using `string_list_append`,
-  `string_list_append_nodup`, or `string_list_insert`.
+  `string_list_append_nodup`, `string_list_insert`,
+  `string_list_split`, and/or `string_list_split_in_place`.
 
 . Can check if a string is in the list using `string_list_has_string` or
   `unsorted_string_list_has_string` and get it from the list using
@@ -135,6 +136,25 @@ counterpart for sorted lists, which performs a binary search.
 	is set. The third parameter controls if the `util` pointer of the
 	items should be freed or not.
 
+`string_list_split`::
+`string_list_split_in_place`::
+
+	Split a string into substrings on a delimiter character and
+	append the substrings to a `string_list`.  If `maxsplit` is
+	non-negative, then split at most `maxsplit` times.  Return the
+	number of substrings appended to the list.
++
+`string_list_split` requires a `string_list` that has `strdup_strings`
+set to true; it leaves the input string untouched and makes copies of
+the substrings in newly-allocated memory.
+`string_list_split_in_place` requires a `string_list` that has
+`strdup_strings` set to false; it splits the input string in place,
+overwriting the delimiter characters with NULs and creating new
+string_list_items that point into the original string (the original
+string must therefore not be modified or freed while the `string_list`
+is in use).
+
+
 Data structures
 ---------------
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 66e82167eb..ebbb381c19 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -501,6 +501,7 @@ TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-run-command
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-scrap-cache-tree
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-sha1
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-sigchain
+TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-string-list
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-subprocess
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-svn-fe
 
diff --git a/string-list.c b/string-list.c
index ad2aa5af91..acb1f5b6dc 100644
--- a/string-list.c
+++ b/string-list.c
@@ -204,3 +204,56 @@ void unsorted_string_list_delete_item(struct string_list *list, int i, int free_
 	list->items[i] = list->items[list->nr-1];
 	list->nr--;
 }
+
+int string_list_split(struct string_list *list, const char *string,
+		      int delim, int maxsplit)
+{
+	int count = 0;
+	const char *p = string, *end;
+
+	if (!list->strdup_strings)
+		die("internal error in string_list_split(): "
+		    "list->strdup_strings must be set");
+	for (;;) {
+		count++;
+		if (maxsplit >= 0 && count > maxsplit) {
+			string_list_append(list, p);
+			return count;
+		}
+		end = strchr(p, delim);
+		if (end) {
+			string_list_append_nodup(list, xmemdupz(p, end - p));
+			p = end + 1;
+		} else {
+			string_list_append(list, p);
+			return count;
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+int string_list_split_in_place(struct string_list *list, char *string,
+			       int delim, int maxsplit)
+{
+	int count = 0;
+	char *p = string, *end;
+
+	if (list->strdup_strings)
+		die("internal error in string_list_split_in_place(): "
+		    "list->strdup_strings must not be set");
+	for (;;) {
+		count++;
+		if (maxsplit >= 0 && count > maxsplit) {
+			string_list_append(list, p);
+			return count;
+		}
+		end = strchr(p, delim);
+		if (end) {
+			*end = '\0';
+			string_list_append(list, p);
+			p = end + 1;
+		} else {
+			string_list_append(list, p);
+			return count;
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/string-list.h b/string-list.h
index 1b3915b741..dc5fbc80ac 100644
--- a/string-list.h
+++ b/string-list.h
@@ -63,4 +63,33 @@ struct string_list_item *unsorted_string_list_lookup(struct string_list *list,
 						     const char *string);
 
 void unsorted_string_list_delete_item(struct string_list *list, int i, int free_util);
+
+/*
+ * Split string into substrings on character delim and append the
+ * substrings to list.  The input string is not modified.
+ * list->strdup_strings must be set, as new memory needs to be
+ * allocated to hold the substrings.  If maxsplit is non-negative,
+ * then split at most maxsplit times.  Return the number of substrings
+ * appended to list.
+ *
+ * Examples:
+ *   string_list_split(l, "foo:bar:baz", ':', -1) -> ["foo", "bar", "baz"]
+ *   string_list_split(l, "foo:bar:baz", ':', 0) -> ["foo:bar:baz"]
+ *   string_list_split(l, "foo:bar:baz", ':', 1) -> ["foo", "bar:baz"]
+ *   string_list_split(l, "foo:bar:", ':', -1) -> ["foo", "bar", ""]
+ *   string_list_split(l, "", ':', -1) -> [""]
+ *   string_list_split(l, ":", ':', -1) -> ["", ""]
+ */
+int string_list_split(struct string_list *list, const char *string,
+		      int delim, int maxsplit);
+
+/*
+ * Like string_list_split(), except that string is split in-place: the
+ * delimiter characters in string are overwritten with NULs, and the
+ * new string_list_items point into string (which therefore must not
+ * be modified or freed while the string_list is in use).
+ * list->strdup_strings must *not* be set.
+ */
+int string_list_split_in_place(struct string_list *list, char *string,
+			       int delim, int maxsplit);
 #endif /* STRING_LIST_H */
diff --git a/t/t0063-string-list.sh b/t/t0063-string-list.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..fb85430751
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t0063-string-list.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2012 Michael Haggerty
+#
+
+test_description='Test string list functionality'
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_split () {
+	cat >expected &&
+	test_expect_success "split $1 at $2, max $3" "
+		test-string-list split '$1' '$2' '$3' >actual &&
+		test_cmp expected actual &&
+		test-string-list split_in_place '$1' '$2' '$3' >actual &&
+		test_cmp expected actual
+	"
+}
+
+test_split "foo:bar:baz" ":" "-1" <<EOF
+3
+[0]: "foo"
+[1]: "bar"
+[2]: "baz"
+EOF
+
+test_split "foo:bar:baz" ":" "0" <<EOF
+1
+[0]: "foo:bar:baz"
+EOF
+
+test_split "foo:bar:baz" ":" "1" <<EOF
+2
+[0]: "foo"
+[1]: "bar:baz"
+EOF
+
+test_split "foo:bar:baz" ":" "2" <<EOF
+3
+[0]: "foo"
+[1]: "bar"
+[2]: "baz"
+EOF
+
+test_split "foo:bar:" ":" "-1" <<EOF
+3
+[0]: "foo"
+[1]: "bar"
+[2]: ""
+EOF
+
+test_split "" ":" "-1" <<EOF
+1
+[0]: ""
+EOF
+
+test_split ":" ":" "-1" <<EOF
+2
+[0]: ""
+[1]: ""
+EOF
+
+test_done
diff --git a/test-string-list.c b/test-string-list.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cdc3cf3a7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-string-list.c
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+#include "cache.h"
+#include "string-list.h"
+
+void write_list(const struct string_list *list)
+{
+	int i;
+	for (i = 0; i < list->nr; i++)
+		printf("[%d]: \"%s\"\n", i, list->items[i].string);
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	if (argc == 5 && !strcmp(argv[1], "split")) {
+		struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+		int i;
+		const char *s = argv[2];
+		int delim = *argv[3];
+		int maxsplit = atoi(argv[4]);
+
+		i = string_list_split(&list, s, delim, maxsplit);
+		printf("%d\n", i);
+		write_list(&list);
+		string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	if (argc == 5 && !strcmp(argv[1], "split_in_place")) {
+		struct string_list list = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;
+		int i;
+		char *s = xstrdup(argv[2]);
+		int delim = *argv[3];
+		int maxsplit = atoi(argv[4]);
+
+		i = string_list_split_in_place(&list, s, delim, maxsplit);
+		printf("%d\n", i);
+		write_list(&list);
+		string_list_clear(&list, 0);
+		free(s);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	fprintf(stderr, "%s: unknown function name: %s\n", argv[0],
+		argv[1] ? argv[1] : "(there was none)");
+	return 1;
+}