diff --git a/include/mtd/utils.h b/include/mtd/utils.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fca64abd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/mtd/utils.h
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/*
+ * mtd/utils.h - helper functions for various MTD utilities
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2012 by Wolfram Sang <w.sang@pengutronix.de>
+ *
+ * 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 2 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.
+ */
+
+#ifndef INCLUDE_MTD_UTILS_H
+# define INCLUDE_MTD_UTILS_H
+
+/* Messages as used in mtd-utils */
+
+#define bareverbose(verbose, fmt, ...) do {                        \
+	if (verbose)                                               \
+		printf(fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__);                        \
+} while(0)
+#define verbose(verbose, fmt, ...) \
+	bareverbose(verbose, "%s: " fmt "\n", PROGRAM_NAME, ##__VA_ARGS__)
+
+#define normsg_cont(fmt, ...) do {                                 \
+	printf("%s: " fmt, PROGRAM_NAME, ##__VA_ARGS__);           \
+} while(0)
+
+#define normsg(fmt, ...) do {                                      \
+	normsg_cont(fmt "\n", ##__VA_ARGS__);                      \
+} while(0)
+
+#define errmsg(fmt, ...)  ({                                                \
+	printf("%s: error!: " fmt "\n", PROGRAM_NAME, ##__VA_ARGS__); \
+	-1;                                                                 \
+})
+#define sys_errmsg errmsg
+
+#define warnmsg(fmt, ...) do {                                                \
+	fprintf(stderr, "%s: warning!: " fmt "\n", PROGRAM_NAME, ##__VA_ARGS__); \
+} while(0)
+
+#endif /* INCLUDE_MTD_UTILS_H */