diff --git a/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.c b/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.c
index 9c0d16164a..20a704b500 100644
--- a/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.c
+++ b/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.c
@@ -146,6 +146,18 @@ G_STATIC_ASSERT(ETH_ALEN == sizeof(NMEtherAddr));
 
 G_STATIC_ASSERT(_nm_alignof(struct ether_addr) <= _nm_alignof(NMEtherAddr));
 
+NMEtherAddr *
+nm_ether_addr_from_string(NMEtherAddr *addr, const char *str)
+{
+    nm_assert(addr);
+
+    if (!str || !_nm_utils_hwaddr_aton_exact(str, addr, ETH_ALEN)) {
+        *addr = NM_ETHER_ADDR_INIT(0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    return addr;
+}
 /*****************************************************************************/
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.h b/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.h
index 1584042ac5..d8ec065732 100644
--- a/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.h
+++ b/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-shared-utils.h
@@ -2859,6 +2859,8 @@ nm_ether_addr_to_string(const NMEtherAddr *ether_addr, char sbuf[static(sizeof(N
 #define nm_ether_addr_to_string_a(ether_addr) \
     nm_ether_addr_to_string((ether_addr), g_alloca(sizeof(NMEtherAddr) * 3))
 
+NMEtherAddr *nm_ether_addr_from_string(NMEtherAddr *addr, const char *str);
+
 guint8 *nm_utils_hexstr2bin_full(const char *hexstr,
                                  gboolean    allow_0x_prefix,
                                  gboolean    delimiter_required,