diff --git a/src/libCom/dbmf/dbmf.c b/src/libCom/dbmf/dbmf.c
index f8f21e142..c9c24a72f 100644
--- a/src/libCom/dbmf/dbmf.c
+++ b/src/libCom/dbmf/dbmf.c
@@ -132,7 +132,12 @@ void* epicsShareAPI dbmfMalloc(size_t size)
     return((void *)(pmem + sizeof(itemHeader)));
 }
 
-
+char * epicsShareAPI dbmfStrdup(unsigned char *str)
+{
+	size_t len = strlen((char *) str);
+	return (char *) dbmfMalloc(len + 1);
+}
+
 void epicsShareAPI dbmfFree(void* mem)
 {
     char       *pmem = (char *)mem;
diff --git a/src/libCom/dbmf/dbmf.h b/src/libCom/dbmf/dbmf.h
index bddc1f505..44395ade3 100644
--- a/src/libCom/dbmf/dbmf.h
+++ b/src/libCom/dbmf/dbmf.h
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ extern "C" {
 
 epicsShareFunc int epicsShareAPI dbmfInit(size_t size, int chunkItems);
 epicsShareFunc void * epicsShareAPI dbmfMalloc(size_t bytes);
+epicsShareFunc char * epicsShareAPI dbmfStrdup(unsigned char *str);
 epicsShareFunc void epicsShareAPI dbmfFree(void* bytes);
 epicsShareFunc void epicsShareAPI dbmfFreeChunks(void);
 epicsShareFunc int epicsShareAPI dbmfShow(int level);