diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index f25f7f1a9e..0366cde05c 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@ extern char *gitbasename(char *);
 /* General helper functions */
 extern void usage(const char *err) NORETURN;
 extern void die(const char *err, ...) NORETURN __attribute__((format (printf, 1, 2)));
+extern void die_errno(const char *err, ...) NORETURN __attribute__((format (printf, 1, 2)));
 extern int error(const char *err, ...) __attribute__((format (printf, 1, 2)));
 extern void warning(const char *err, ...) __attribute__((format (printf, 1, 2)));
 
diff --git a/usage.c b/usage.c
index 820d09f92b..fd936a1aeb 100644
--- a/usage.c
+++ b/usage.c
@@ -60,6 +60,18 @@ void die(const char *err, ...)
 	va_end(params);
 }
 
+void die_errno(const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+	va_list params;
+	char fmt_with_err[1024];
+
+	snprintf(fmt_with_err, sizeof(fmt_with_err), "%s: %s", fmt, strerror(errno));
+
+	va_start(params, fmt);
+	die_routine(fmt_with_err, params);
+	va_end(params);
+}
+
 int error(const char *err, ...)
 {
 	va_list params;