diff --git a/include/lib/util_str.h b/include/lib/util_str.h
index c8a32deb..0448c126 100644
--- a/include/lib/util_str.h
+++ b/include/lib/util_str.h
@@ -13,5 +13,7 @@
 #define LIB_UTIL_STR_H
 
 void util_str_rm_whitespace(const char *src, char *dest);
+const char *util_startswith(const char *s, const char *prefix);
+const char *util_startswith_no_case(const char *s, const char *prefix);
 
 #endif /** LIB_UTIL_STR_H @} */
diff --git a/libutil/util_str.c b/libutil/util_str.c
index 71f585e1..21538b37 100644
--- a/libutil/util_str.c
+++ b/libutil/util_str.c
@@ -3,14 +3,16 @@
  *
  * Manipulate and work with strings
  *
- * Copyright IBM Corp. 2025
+ * Copyright IBM Corp. 2026
  *
  * s390-tools is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  * it under the terms of the MIT license. See LICENSE for details.
  */
 
 #include <ctype.h>
+#include <string.h>
 
+#include "lib/util_panic.h"
 #include "lib/util_str.h"
 
 /**
@@ -31,3 +33,45 @@ void util_str_rm_whitespace(const char *src, char *dest)
 	}
 	*dest = '\0';
 }
+
+/**
+ * Check if string \a s starts with \a prefix
+ *
+ * @param[in] s       String to check
+ * @param[in] prefix  Prefix to match
+ *
+ * @returns Pointer to the character after the prefix if match is found,
+ *          NULL otherwise
+ */
+const char *util_startswith(const char *s, const char *prefix)
+{
+	size_t sz;
+
+	util_assert(s != NULL, "Internal error: s input is NULL");
+	util_assert(prefix != NULL, "Internal error: prefix input is NULL");
+	sz = strlen(prefix);
+	if (strncmp(s, prefix, sz) == 0)
+		return s + sz;
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Check if string \a s starts with \a prefix (case-insensitive)
+ *
+ * @param[in] s       String to check
+ * @param[in] prefix  Prefix to match (case-insensitive)
+ *
+ * @returns Pointer to the character after the prefix if match is found,
+ *          NULL otherwise
+ */
+const char *util_startswith_no_case(const char *s, const char *prefix)
+{
+	size_t sz;
+
+	util_assert(s != NULL, "Internal error: s input is NULL");
+	util_assert(prefix != NULL, "Internal error: prefix input is NULL");
+	sz = strlen(prefix);
+	if (strncasecmp(s, prefix, sz) == 0)
+		return s + sz;
+	return NULL;
+}