diff --git a/core/string.c b/core/string.c
index 286a4576..0bef7953 100644
--- a/core/string.c
+++ b/core/string.c
@@ -94,3 +94,27 @@ int string_compare(const gchar *lhs, const gchar *rhs)
 		return -1;
 	return g_utf8_collate(lhs, rhs);
 }
+
+int string_compare_tokens(gchar **lhs, gchar **rhs)
+{
+	unsigned int i, cmp;
+
+	if (!lhs[0] && rhs[0])
+		return 1;
+	if (lhs[0] && !rhs[0])
+		return -1;
+
+	for (i = 0; lhs[i]; i++) {
+		if (!rhs[i])
+			break;
+		cmp = g_utf8_collate(lhs[i], rhs[i]);
+		if (cmp != 0)
+			return cmp;
+	}
+
+	if (lhs[i])
+		return 1;
+	if (rhs[i])
+		return -1;
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/include/core/string.h b/include/core/string.h
index 8f2e7814..4f154448 100644
--- a/include/core/string.h
+++ b/include/core/string.h
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ gchar *string_lowercase(const gchar *);
  * if ret > 0: lhs > rhs, or lhs is empty.
  */
 int string_compare(const gchar *, const gchar *);
+int string_compare_tokens(gchar **, gchar **);
 
 /* Returns True if the two strings match. */
 static inline bool string_match(const gchar *a, const gchar *b)
diff --git a/tests/core/string.c b/tests/core/string.c
index f378b1dd..727f8ed6 100644
--- a/tests/core/string.c
+++ b/tests/core/string.c
@@ -101,6 +101,32 @@ void test_compare()
 	test_equal(string_compare("A", ""), -1);
 }
 
+void test_compare_tokens()
+{
+	gchar *a[2] = { "a", NULL };
+	gchar *A[2] = { "A", NULL };
+	gchar *B[2] = { "B", NULL };
+	gchar *aa[3] = { "a", "a", NULL };
+	gchar *ab[3] = { "a", "b", NULL };
+	gchar *ba[3] = { "b", "a", NULL };
+	gchar *null[1] = { NULL };
+
+	test_equal(string_compare_tokens(A, A),  0);
+	test_equal(string_compare_tokens(a, a),  0);
+	test_equal(string_compare_tokens(A, B), -1);
+	test_equal(string_compare_tokens(B, A),  1);
+
+	test_equal(string_compare_tokens(null, null),  0);
+	test_equal(string_compare_tokens(null, A),     1);
+	test_equal(string_compare_tokens(A,    null), -1);
+
+	test_equal(string_compare_tokens(aa, aa),  0);
+	test_equal(string_compare_tokens(a,  aa), -1);
+	test_equal(string_compare_tokens(aa, a),   1);
+	test_equal(string_compare_tokens(ab, ba), -1);
+	test_equal(string_compare_tokens(ba, ab),  1);
+}
+
 void test_match()
 {
 	test_equal(string_match(NULL, NULL), (bool)false);
@@ -124,6 +150,7 @@ DECLARE_UNIT_TESTS(
 	UNIT_TEST("Date to String", test_date),
 	UNIT_TEST("String Lowercase", test_lowercase),
 	UNIT_TEST("String Comparison", test_compare),
+	UNIT_TEST("String Comparison (Tokens)", test_compare_tokens),
 	UNIT_TEST("String Match", test_match),
 	UNIT_TEST("String Length", test_length),
 );