diff --git a/refstr.h b/refstr.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..142696a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/refstr.h
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+/*
+ *  tvheadend
+ *  Copyright (C) 2007 Andreas Öman
+ *
+ *  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ *  (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *  This program 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 General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifndef REFSTR_H_
+#define REFSTR_H_
+
+#include <string.h>
+
+typedef struct refstr {
+  unsigned int refcnt;
+  char str[0];
+} refstr_t;
+
+extern inline refstr_t *
+refstr_alloc(const char *str)
+{
+  int l = strlen(str);
+  refstr_t *r = malloc(sizeof(refstr_t) + l + 1);
+  memcpy(r->str, str, l + 1);
+  r->refcnt = 1;
+  return r;
+}
+
+extern inline const char *
+refstr_get(refstr_t *r)
+{
+  return r->str;
+}
+
+extern inline void
+refstr_free(refstr_t *r)
+{
+  if(r != NULL  && r->refcnt > 1)
+    r->refcnt--;
+  else 
+    free(r);
+}
+
+extern inline refstr_t *
+refstr_dup(refstr_t *r)
+{
+  if(r != NULL) r->refcnt++;
+  return r;
+}
+
+
+
+#endif /* REFSTR_H_ */