diff --git a/utf8.c b/utf8.c
index 28e6d76a4..00e10c86a 100644
--- a/utf8.c
+++ b/utf8.c
@@ -644,3 +644,24 @@ int skip_utf8_bom(char **text, size_t len)
 	*text += strlen(utf8_bom);
 	return 1;
 }
+
+void strbuf_utf8_align(struct strbuf *buf, align_type position, unsigned int width,
+		       const char *s)
+{
+	int slen = strlen(s);
+	int display_len = utf8_strnwidth(s, slen, 0);
+	int utf8_compensation = slen - display_len;
+
+	if (display_len >= width) {
+		strbuf_addstr(buf, s);
+		return;
+	}
+
+	if (position == ALIGN_LEFT)
+		strbuf_addf(buf, "%-*s", width + utf8_compensation, s);
+	else if (position == ALIGN_MIDDLE) {
+		int left = (width - display_len) / 2;
+		strbuf_addf(buf, "%*s%-*s", left, "", width - left + utf8_compensation, s);
+	} else if (position == ALIGN_RIGHT)
+		strbuf_addf(buf, "%*s", width + utf8_compensation, s);
+}
diff --git a/utf8.h b/utf8.h
index 5a9e94bee..7930b44f1 100644
--- a/utf8.h
+++ b/utf8.h
@@ -55,4 +55,19 @@ int mbs_chrlen(const char **text, size_t *remainder_p, const char *encoding);
  */
 int is_hfs_dotgit(const char *path);
 
+typedef enum {
+	ALIGN_LEFT,
+	ALIGN_MIDDLE,
+	ALIGN_RIGHT
+} align_type;
+
+/*
+ * Align the string given and store it into a strbuf as per the
+ * 'position' and 'width'. If the given string length is larger than
+ * 'width' than then the input string is not truncated and no
+ * alignment is done.
+ */
+void strbuf_utf8_align(struct strbuf *buf, align_type position, unsigned int width,
+		       const char *s);
+
 #endif