diff --git a/servers/slapd/charray.c b/servers/slapd/charray.c
index 2b628d7bbb..01057217a8 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/charray.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/charray.c
@@ -229,6 +229,24 @@ slap_strcopy(
 	return a-1;
 }
 
+/* strncopy is like strcpy except it returns a pointer to the trailing NUL of
+ * the result string. This allows fast construction of catenated strings
+ * without the overhead of strlen/strcat.
+ */
+char *
+slap_strncopy(
+	char *a,
+	const char *b,
+	size_t n
+)
+{
+	if (!a || !b || n == 0)
+		return a;
+	
+	while ((*a++ = *b++) && n-- > 0) ;
+	return a-1;
+}
+
 /* Unlike charray_add, bvarray_add does not make a new copy of the
  * source string. Typically it is used where ber_bvecadd was before,
  * and ber_bvecadd didn't duplicate its source either.
diff --git a/servers/slapd/proto-slap.h b/servers/slapd/proto-slap.h
index 5e23ef9830..595c4936c6 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/proto-slap.h
+++ b/servers/slapd/proto-slap.h
@@ -283,6 +283,8 @@ LDAP_SLAPD_F (void) bvarray_free LDAP_P(( struct berval *a ));
 
 LDAP_SLAPD_F (char *) slap_strcopy LDAP_P((
 	char *dst, const char *src ));
+LDAP_SLAPD_F (char *) slap_strncopy LDAP_P((
+	char *dst, const char *src, size_t n ));
 
 /*
  * controls.c