diff --git a/util/build.mk b/util/build.mk
index 062e34c708..9d2f149241 100644
--- a/util/build.mk
+++ b/util/build.mk
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 #
 
 host-util-bin=ectool lbplay burn_my_ec
-host-util-common=ectool_keyscan comm-host comm-dev
+host-util-common=ectool_keyscan comm-host comm-dev misc_util
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_LPC),y)
 host-util-common+=comm-lpc
 else
diff --git a/util/ectool.c b/util/ectool.c
index 3f6a0b7758..c10689a533 100644
--- a/util/ectool.c
+++ b/util/ectool.c
@@ -18,11 +18,9 @@
 #include "ectool.h"
 #include "lightbar.h"
 #include "lock/gec_lock.h"
+#include "misc_util.h"
 #include "panic.h"
 
-/* Don't use a macro where an inline will do... */
-static inline int MIN(int a, int b) { return a < b ? a : b; }
-
 #define GEC_LOCK_TIMEOUT_SECS	30  /* 30 secs */
 
 const char help_str[] =
@@ -168,83 +166,6 @@ static const char * const image_names[] = {"unknown", "RO", "RW"};
 static const char * const led_color_names[EC_LED_COLOR_COUNT] = {
 	"red", "green", "blue", "yellow", "white"};
 
-/* Write a buffer to the file.  Return non-zero if error. */
-static int write_file(const char *filename, const char *buf, int size)
-{
-	FILE *f;
-	int i;
-
-	/* Write to file */
-	f = fopen(filename, "wb");
-	if (!f) {
-		perror("Error opening output file");
-		return -1;
-	}
-	i = fwrite(buf, 1, size, f);
-	fclose(f);
-	if (i != size) {
-		perror("Error writing to file");
-		return -1;
-	}
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
-
-/* Read a file into a buffer.  Sets *size to the size of the buffer.  Returns
- * the buffer, which must be freed with free() by the caller.  Returns NULL if
- * error. */
-static char *read_file(const char *filename, int *size)
-{
-	FILE *f = fopen(filename, "rb");
-	char *buf;
-	int i;
-
-	if (!f) {
-		perror("Error opening input file");
-		return NULL;
-	}
-
-	fseek(f, 0, SEEK_END);
-	*size = ftell(f);
-	rewind(f);
-	if (*size > 0x100000) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "File seems unreasonably large\n");
-		fclose(f);
-		return NULL;
-	}
-
-	buf = (char *)malloc(*size);
-	if (!buf) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Unable to allocate buffer.\n");
-		fclose(f);
-		return NULL;
-	}
-
-	printf("Reading %d bytes from %s...\n", *size, filename);
-	i = fread(buf, 1, *size, f);
-	fclose(f);
-	if (i != *size) {
-		perror("Error reading file");
-		free(buf);
-		return NULL;
-	}
-
-	return buf;
-}
-
-
-int is_string_printable(const char *buf)
-{
-	while (*buf) {
-		if (!isprint(*buf))
-			return 0;
-		buf++;
-	}
-
-	return 1;
-}
-
 
 /* Check SBS numerical value range */
 int is_battery_range(int val)
diff --git a/util/misc_util.c b/util/misc_util.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8410f03cfa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/misc_util.c
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+/* Copyright (c) 2013 The Chromium OS Authors. All rights reserved.
+ * Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+ * found in the LICENSE file.
+ */
+
+#include <ctype.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "misc_util.h"
+
+int write_file(const char *filename, const char *buf, int size)
+{
+	FILE *f;
+	int i;
+
+	/* Write to file */
+	f = fopen(filename, "wb");
+	if (!f) {
+		perror("Error opening output file");
+		return -1;
+	}
+	i = fwrite(buf, 1, size, f);
+	fclose(f);
+	if (i != size) {
+		perror("Error writing to file");
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+char *read_file(const char *filename, int *size)
+{
+	FILE *f = fopen(filename, "rb");
+	char *buf;
+	int i;
+
+	if (!f) {
+		perror("Error opening input file");
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	fseek(f, 0, SEEK_END);
+	*size = ftell(f);
+	rewind(f);
+	if (*size > 0x100000) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "File seems unreasonably large\n");
+		fclose(f);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	buf = (char *)malloc(*size);
+	if (!buf) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Unable to allocate buffer.\n");
+		fclose(f);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	printf("Reading %d bytes from %s...\n", *size, filename);
+	i = fread(buf, 1, *size, f);
+	fclose(f);
+	if (i != *size) {
+		perror("Error reading file");
+		free(buf);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	return buf;
+}
+
+int is_string_printable(const char *buf)
+{
+	while (*buf) {
+		if (!isprint(*buf))
+			return 0;
+		buf++;
+	}
+
+	return 1;
+}
diff --git a/util/misc_util.h b/util/misc_util.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2224d84aaf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/misc_util.h
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/* Copyright (c) 2013 The Chromium OS Authors. All rights reserved.
+ * Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+ * found in the LICENSE file.
+ */
+
+#ifndef __CROS_EC_MISC_UTIL_H
+#define __CROS_EC_MISC_UTIL_H
+
+/* Don't use a macro where an inline will do... */
+static inline int MIN(int a, int b) { return a < b ? a : b; }
+
+/**
+ * Write a buffer to the file.
+ *
+ * @param filename	Target filename
+ * @param buf		Buffer to write
+ * @param size		Size of buffer in bytes
+ * @return non-zero if error
+ */
+int write_file(const char *filename, const char *buf, int size);
+
+/**
+ * Read a file into a newly-allocated buffer.
+ *
+ * @param filename	Source filename
+ * @param size		Size of data in bytes will be stored here on success.
+ * @return A newly allocated buffer with the data, which must be freed with
+ *         free() by the caller, or NULL if error.
+ */
+char *read_file(const char *filename, int *size);
+
+/**
+ * Check if a string contains only printable characters.
+ *
+ * @param buf		Null-terminated string to check
+ * @return non-zero if buf contains only printable characters; zero if not.
+ */
+int is_string_printable(const char *buf);
+
+#endif