diff --git a/src/smsutil.c b/src/smsutil.c
index 02e6694a..61408d52 100644
--- a/src/smsutil.c
+++ b/src/smsutil.c
@@ -1681,6 +1681,18 @@ time_t sms_scts_to_time(const struct sms_scts *scts, struct tm *remote)
 	return ret;
 }
 
+void sms_address_from_string(struct sms_address *addr, const char *str)
+{
+	addr->numbering_plan = SMS_NUMBERING_PLAN_ISDN;
+	if (str[0] == '+') {
+		addr->number_type = SMS_NUMBER_TYPE_INTERNATIONAL;
+		strcpy(addr->address, str+1);
+	} else {
+		addr->number_type = SMS_NUMBER_TYPE_UNKNOWN;
+		strcpy(addr->address, str);
+	}
+}
+
 const char *sms_address_to_string(const struct sms_address *addr)
 {
 	static char buffer[64];
diff --git a/src/smsutil.h b/src/smsutil.h
index e01ab285..77d3d3cb 100644
--- a/src/smsutil.h
+++ b/src/smsutil.h
@@ -356,7 +356,9 @@ gboolean sms_encode(const struct sms *in, int *len, int *tpdu_len,
 int sms_udl_in_bytes(guint8 ud_len, guint8 dcs);
 
 time_t sms_scts_to_time(const struct sms_scts *scts, struct tm *remote);
+
 const char *sms_address_to_string(const struct sms_address *addr);
+void sms_address_from_string(struct sms_address *addr, const char *str);
 
 const guint8 *sms_extract_common(const struct sms *sms, gboolean *out_udhi,
 					guint8 *out_dcs, guint8 *out_udl,