diff --git a/src/libply/ply-utils.c b/src/libply/ply-utils.c
index 89e37e93..9d2e6ff6 100644
--- a/src/libply/ply-utils.c
+++ b/src/libply/ply-utils.c
@@ -1015,4 +1015,16 @@ ply_get_device_scale (uint32_t width,
         return device_scale;
 }
 
+bool
+ply_run_program_in_background (const char *program)
+{
+        pid_t pid;
+        int result;
+        char argv[2] = { program, NULL };
+
+        result = posix_spawn (&pid, program, NULL, NULL, argv, NULL);
+
+        return result == 0;
+}
+
 /* vim: set ts=4 sw=4 expandtab autoindent cindent cino={.5s,(0: */
diff --git a/src/libply/ply-utils.h b/src/libply/ply-utils.h
index c46603ee..19c5f90d 100644
--- a/src/libply/ply-utils.h
+++ b/src/libply/ply-utils.h
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ int ply_get_device_scale (uint32_t width,
                           uint32_t height,
                           uint32_t width_mm,
                           uint32_t height_mm);
+bool ply_run_program_in_background (const char *program);
 
 #endif