diff --git a/tools/include/linux/string.h b/tools/include/linux/string.h
index 6c3e2cc274c5..cee239350a6b 100644
--- a/tools/include/linux/string.h
+++ b/tools/include/linux/string.h
@@ -29,4 +29,6 @@ static inline bool strstarts(const char *str, const char *prefix)
 	return strncmp(str, prefix, strlen(prefix)) == 0;
 }
 
-#endif /* _LINUX_STRING_H_ */
+extern char * __must_check skip_spaces(const char *);
+
+#endif /* _TOOLS_LINUX_STRING_H_ */
diff --git a/tools/lib/string.c b/tools/lib/string.c
index 93b3d4b6feac..50d400822bb3 100644
--- a/tools/lib/string.c
+++ b/tools/lib/string.c
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <linux/string.h>
+#include <linux/ctype.h>
 #include <linux/compiler.h>
 
 /**
@@ -106,3 +107,16 @@ size_t __weak strlcpy(char *dest, const char *src, size_t size)
 	}
 	return ret;
 }
+
+/**
+ * skip_spaces - Removes leading whitespace from @str.
+ * @str: The string to be stripped.
+ *
+ * Returns a pointer to the first non-whitespace character in @str.
+ */
+char *skip_spaces(const char *str)
+{
+	while (isspace(*str))
+		++str;
+	return (char *)str;
+}