diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 837986845f..55d04f662f 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -2304,6 +2304,10 @@ virGICVersionTypeFromString;
 virGICVersionTypeToString;
 
 
+# util/virglibutil.h
+virGSListStringFree;
+
+
 # util/virhash.h
 virHashAddEntry;
 virHashAtomicNew;
diff --git a/src/util/meson.build b/src/util/meson.build
index e89d32c33d..0080825bd0 100644
--- a/src/util/meson.build
+++ b/src/util/meson.build
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ util_sources = [
   'virgdbus.c',
   'virgettext.c',
   'virgic.c',
+  'virglibutil.c',
   'virhash.c',
   'virhashcode.c',
   'virhook.c',
diff --git a/src/util/virglibutil.c b/src/util/virglibutil.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8d93e27fc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/virglibutil.c
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * virglibutil.c: Utilities helping with glib usage
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library.  If not, see
+ * <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#include <config.h>
+
+#include "virglibutil.h"
+
+void
+virGSListStringFree(GSList *l)
+{
+    g_slist_free_full(l, g_free);
+}
diff --git a/src/util/virglibutil.h b/src/util/virglibutil.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2bff69f22f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/virglibutil.h
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+/*
+ * virglibutil.h: Utilities helping with glib usage
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library.  If not, see
+ * <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include "internal.h"
+
+void
+virGSListStringFree(GSList *l);
+
+typedef GSList virGSListString;
+
+G_DEFINE_AUTOPTR_CLEANUP_FUNC(virGSListString, virGSListStringFree);