diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index c3332c9b2c..cb635cd5e0 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -1984,6 +1984,7 @@ virTimeFieldsNow;
 virTimeFieldsNowRaw;
 virTimeFieldsThen;
 virTimeFieldsThenRaw;
+virTimeLocalOffsetFromUTC;
 virTimeMillisNow;
 virTimeMillisNowRaw;
 virTimeStringNow;
diff --git a/src/util/virtime.c b/src/util/virtime.c
index caa4e241f6..3a56400fe2 100644
--- a/src/util/virtime.c
+++ b/src/util/virtime.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * virtime.c: Time handling functions
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2006-2012 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2006-2014 Red Hat, Inc.
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -344,3 +344,46 @@ char *virTimeStringThen(unsigned long long when)
 
     return ret;
 }
+
+/**
+ * virTimeLocalOffsetFromUTC:
+ *
+ * This function is threadsafe, but is *not* async signal safe (due to
+ * localtime_r()).
+ *
+ * @offset: pointer to time_t that will be set to the difference
+ *          between localtime and UTC in seconds (east of UTC is a
+ *          positive number, and west of UTC is a negative number.
+ *
+ * Returns 0 on success, -1 on error with error reported
+ */
+int
+virTimeLocalOffsetFromUTC(long *offset)
+{
+    struct tm gmtimeinfo;
+    time_t current, utc;
+
+    /* time() gives seconds since Epoch in current timezone */
+    if ((current = time(NULL)) == (time_t)-1) {
+        virReportSystemError(errno, "%s",
+                             _("failed to get current system time"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    /* treat current as if it were in UTC */
+    if (!gmtime_r(&current, &gmtimeinfo)) {
+        virReportSystemError(errno, "%s",
+                             _("gmtime_r failed"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    /* mktime() also obeys current timezone rules */
+    if ((utc = mktime(&gmtimeinfo)) == (time_t)-1) {
+        virReportSystemError(errno, "%s",
+                             _("mktime failed"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    *offset = current - utc;
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/src/util/virtime.h b/src/util/virtime.h
index a5bd652602..25332dba93 100644
--- a/src/util/virtime.h
+++ b/src/util/virtime.h
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * virtime.h: Time handling functions
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2006-2011 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2006-2011, 2014 Red Hat, Inc.
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ int virTimeStringNowRaw(char *buf)
 int virTimeStringThenRaw(unsigned long long when, char *buf)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(2) ATTRIBUTE_RETURN_CHECK;
 
-
 /* These APIs are *not* async signal safe and return -1,
  * raising a libvirt error on failure
  */
@@ -63,5 +62,7 @@ int virTimeFieldsThen(unsigned long long when, struct tm *fields)
 char *virTimeStringNow(void);
 char *virTimeStringThen(unsigned long long when);
 
+int virTimeLocalOffsetFromUTC(long *offset)
+    ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_RETURN_CHECK;
 
 #endif
diff --git a/tests/virtimetest.c b/tests/virtimetest.c
index 73a3c3ed5c..bf27682533 100644
--- a/tests/virtimetest.c
+++ b/tests/virtimetest.c
@@ -72,6 +72,35 @@ static int testTimeFields(const void *args)
 }
 
 
+typedef struct {
+    const char *zone;
+    long offset;
+} testTimeLocalOffsetData;
+
+static int
+testTimeLocalOffset(const void *args)
+{
+    const testTimeLocalOffsetData *data = args;
+    long actual;
+
+    if (setenv("TZ", data->zone, 1) < 0) {
+        perror("setenv");
+        return -1;
+    }
+    tzset();
+
+    if (virTimeLocalOffsetFromUTC(&actual) < 0) {
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (data->offset != actual) {
+        VIR_DEBUG("Expect Offset %ld got %ld\n",
+                  data->offset, actual);
+        return -1;
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
+
 static int
 mymain(void)
 {
@@ -119,6 +148,35 @@ mymain(void)
 
     TEST_FIELDS(2147483648000ull, 2038,  1, 19,  3, 14,  8);
 
+#define TEST_LOCALOFFSET(tz, off)       \
+    do {                                \
+       testTimeLocalOffsetData data = { \
+           .zone =  tz,                 \
+           .offset = off,               \
+        };                              \
+        if (virtTestRun("Test localtime offset for " #tz, \
+                         testTimeLocalOffset, &data) < 0) \
+            ret = -1;                   \
+    } while (0)
+
+    TEST_LOCALOFFSET("VIR00:30", -30 * 60);
+    TEST_LOCALOFFSET("VIR01:30", -90 * 60);
+    TEST_LOCALOFFSET("UTC", 0);
+    TEST_LOCALOFFSET("VIR-00:30", 30 * 60);
+    TEST_LOCALOFFSET("VIR-01:30", 90 * 60);
+#if __TEST_DST
+    /* test DST processing with timezones that always
+     * have DST in effect; what's more, cover a zone with
+     * with an unusual DST different than a usual one hour
+     */
+    /* NB: These tests fail at certain times of the day, so
+     * must be disabled until we figure out why
+     */
+    TEST_LOCALOFFSET("VIR-00:30VID,0,365", 90 * 60);
+    TEST_LOCALOFFSET("VIR-02:30VID,0,365", 210 * 60);
+    TEST_LOCALOFFSET("VIR-02:30VID-04:30,0,365", 270 * 60);
+#endif
+
     return ret == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE;
 }