diff --git a/include/charset.h b/include/charset.h
index 020f8a9..fde6bdd 100644
--- a/include/charset.h
+++ b/include/charset.h
@@ -168,6 +168,21 @@
  */
 s32 utf_to_upper(const s32 code);
 
+/*
+ * u16_strncmp() - compare two u16 string
+ *
+ * @s1:		first string to compare
+ * @s2:		second string to compare
+ * @n:		maximum number of u16 to compare
+ * Return:	0  if the first n u16 are the same in s1 and s2
+ *		< 0 if the first different u16 in s1 is less than the
+ *		corresponding u16 in s2
+ *		> 0 if the first different u16 in s1 is greater than the
+ *		corresponding u16 in s2
+ */
+int u16_strncmp(const u16 *s1, const u16 *s2, size_t n);
+#define u16_strcmp(s1, s2)	u16_strncmp((s1), (s2), SIZE_MAX)
+
 /**
  * u16_strlen - count non-zero words
  *