diff --git a/mx_util.c b/mx_util.c
index c7d5182..8818570 100644
--- a/mx_util.c
+++ b/mx_util.c
@@ -1414,3 +1414,11 @@ char *mx_pipe_external(char *helper, char **argv) {
     errno = err;
     return NULL;
 }
+
+void mx_die(const char *restrict fmt, ...) {
+    va_list ap;
+    va_start(ap, fmt);
+    vfprintf(stderr, fmt, ap);
+    va_end(ap);
+    _exit(1);
+}
diff --git a/mx_util.h b/mx_util.h
index f64a696..8baad02 100644
--- a/mx_util.h
+++ b/mx_util.h
@@ -183,6 +183,8 @@ int mx_fs_get_sizes(const char *path, unsigned long *free, unsigned long *total)
 time_t mx_clock_boottime(void);
 int mx_call_external(char *helper, char **argv);
 char *mx_pipe_external(char *args, char **argv);
+void mx_die(const char *restrict fmt, ...) __attribute__ ((noreturn,format (printf, 1, 2)));
+
 
 #if __GLIBC__ <2 || __GLIBC__ == 2 && __GLIBC_MINOR__ < 34
 #include <sys/syscall.h>