diff --git a/Makefile.examples b/Makefile.examples
index d49db6ce86..d5433395c3 100644
--- a/Makefile.examples
+++ b/Makefile.examples
@@ -150,6 +150,8 @@ EXTRA_DIST += \
 	examples/nm-conf.d/30-anon.conf \
 	examples/nm-conf.d/31-mac-addr-change.conf \
 	\
+	examples/python/nmex.py \
+	\
 	examples/python/dbus/nm-state.py \
 	examples/python/dbus/add-connection.py \
 	examples/python/dbus/add-connection-compat.py \
diff --git a/examples/python/nmex.py b/examples/python/nmex.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a85eecaf87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/python/nmex.py
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# -*- Mode: Python; tab-width: 4; indent-tabs-mode: nil; c-basic-offset: 4 -*-
+# vim: ft=python ts=4 sts=4 sw=4 et ai
+
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+# Copyright 2018 Red Hat, Inc.
+
+###############################################################################
+# nmex.py contains helper functions used by some examples. The helper functions
+# should be simple and independent, so that the user can extract them easily
+# when modifying the example to his needs.
+###############################################################################
+
+def _sys_clock_gettime_ns_lazy():
+    import ctypes
+
+    class timespec(ctypes.Structure):
+        _fields_ = [
+                ('tv_sec', ctypes.c_long),
+                ('tv_nsec', ctypes.c_long)
+        ]
+
+    librt = ctypes.CDLL('librt.so.1', use_errno=True)
+    clock_gettime = librt.clock_gettime
+    clock_gettime.argtypes = [ctypes.c_int, ctypes.POINTER(timespec)]
+
+    t = timespec()
+    def f(clock_id):
+        if clock_gettime(clock_id, ctypes.pointer(t)) != 0:
+            import os
+            errno_ = ctypes.get_errno()
+            raise OSError(errno_, os.strerror(errno_))
+        return (t.tv_sec * 1000000000) + t.tv_nsec
+    return f
+
+_sys_clock_gettime_ns = None
+
+# call POSIX clock_gettime() and return it as integer (in nanoseconds)
+def sys_clock_gettime_ns(clock_id):
+    global _sys_clock_gettime_ns
+    if _sys_clock_gettime_ns is None:
+        _sys_clock_gettime_ns = _sys_clock_gettime_ns_lazy()
+    return _sys_clock_gettime_ns(clock_id)
+
+def nm_boot_time_ns():
+    # NetworkManager exposes some timestamps as CLOCK_BOOTTIME.
+    # Try that first (number 7).
+    try:
+        return sys_clock_gettime_ns(7)
+    except OSError as e:
+        # On systems, where this is not available, fallback to
+        # CLOCK_MONOTONIC (numeric 1).
+        # That is what NetworkManager does as well.
+        import errno
+        if e.errno == errno.EINVAL:
+            return sys_clock_gettime_ns(1)
+        raise
+def nm_boot_time_us():
+    return nm_boot_time_ns() / 1000
+def nm_boot_time_ms():
+    return nm_boot_time_ns() / 1000000
+def nm_boot_time_s():
+    return nm_boot_time_ns() / 1000000000
+
+###############################################################################