diff --git a/src/nm-core-utils.c b/src/nm-core-utils.c
index d39991bd27..ca880de50b 100644
--- a/src/nm-core-utils.c
+++ b/src/nm-core-utils.c
@@ -316,28 +316,28 @@ nm_utils_ip6_address_clear_host_address (struct in6_addr *dst, const struct in6_
 	return dst;
 }
 
-gboolean
-nm_utils_ip6_address_same_prefix (const struct in6_addr *addr_a, const struct in6_addr *addr_b, guint8 plen)
+int
+nm_utils_ip6_address_same_prefix_cmp (const struct in6_addr *addr_a, const struct in6_addr *addr_b, guint8 plen)
 {
 	int nbytes;
-	guint8 t, m;
+	guint8 va, vb, m;
 
 	if (plen >= 128)
-		return memcmp (addr_a, addr_b, sizeof (struct in6_addr)) == 0;
+		NM_CMP_DIRECT_MEMCMP (addr_a, addr_b, sizeof (struct in6_addr));
+	else {
+		nbytes = plen / 8;
+		if (nbytes)
+			NM_CMP_DIRECT_MEMCMP (addr_a, addr_b, nbytes);
 
-	nbytes = plen / 8;
-	if (nbytes) {
-		if (memcmp (addr_a, addr_b, nbytes) != 0)
-			return FALSE;
+		plen = plen % 8;
+		if (plen != 0) {
+			m = ~((1 << (8 - plen)) - 1);
+			va = ((((const guint8 *) addr_a))[nbytes]) & m;
+			vb = ((((const guint8 *) addr_b))[nbytes]) & m;
+			NM_CMP_DIRECT (va, vb);
+		}
 	}
-
-	plen = plen % 8;
-	if (plen == 0)
-		return TRUE;
-
-	m = ~((1 << (8 - plen)) - 1);
-	t = ((((const guint8 *) addr_a))[nbytes]) ^ ((((const guint8 *) addr_b))[nbytes]);
-	return (t & m) == 0;
+	return 0;
 }
 
 /*****************************************************************************/
diff --git a/src/nm-core-utils.h b/src/nm-core-utils.h
index 20df8d7e96..99d9e9c486 100644
--- a/src/nm-core-utils.h
+++ b/src/nm-core-utils.h
@@ -122,7 +122,26 @@ gboolean nm_ethernet_address_is_valid (gconstpointer addr, gssize len);
 gconstpointer nm_utils_ipx_address_clear_host_address (int family, gpointer dst, gconstpointer src, guint8 plen);
 in_addr_t nm_utils_ip4_address_clear_host_address (in_addr_t addr, guint8 plen);
 const struct in6_addr *nm_utils_ip6_address_clear_host_address (struct in6_addr *dst, const struct in6_addr *src, guint8 plen);
-gboolean nm_utils_ip6_address_same_prefix (const struct in6_addr *addr_a, const struct in6_addr *addr_b, guint8 plen);
+int nm_utils_ip6_address_same_prefix_cmp (const struct in6_addr *addr_a, const struct in6_addr *addr_b, guint8 plen);
+
+static inline gboolean
+nm_utils_ip6_address_same_prefix (const struct in6_addr *addr_a, const struct in6_addr *addr_b, guint8 plen)
+{
+	return nm_utils_ip6_address_same_prefix_cmp (addr_a, addr_b, plen) == 0;
+}
+
+#define NM_CMP_DIRECT_IN6ADDR_SAME_PREFIX(a, b, plen) \
+    NM_CMP_RETURN (nm_utils_ip6_address_same_prefix_cmp ((a), (b), (plen)))
+
+#define NM_CMP_DIRECT_IN4ADDR_SAME_PREFIX(a, b, plen) \
+    G_STMT_START { \
+        const guint8 _plen = (plen); \
+        const in_addr_t _aa = (a); \
+        const in_addr_t _ab = (b); \
+        \
+        NM_CMP_DIRECT (htonl (nm_utils_ip4_address_clear_host_address (_aa, _plen)), \
+                       htonl (nm_utils_ip4_address_clear_host_address (_ab, _plen))); \
+    } G_STMT_END
 
 double nm_utils_exp10 (gint16 e);