diff --git a/Documentation/technical/api-strbuf.txt b/Documentation/technical/api-strbuf.txt
index 3350d97dda..4396be9dda 100644
--- a/Documentation/technical/api-strbuf.txt
+++ b/Documentation/technical/api-strbuf.txt
@@ -121,10 +121,19 @@ Functions
 
 * Related to the contents of the buffer
 
+`strbuf_trim`::
+
+	Strip whitespace from the beginning and end of a string.
+	Equivalent to performing `strbuf_rtrim()` followed by `strbuf_ltrim()`.
+
 `strbuf_rtrim`::
 
 	Strip whitespace from the end of a string.
 
+`strbuf_ltrim`::
+
+	Strip whitespace from the beginning of a string.
+
 `strbuf_cmp`::
 
 	Compare two buffers. Returns an integer less than, equal to, or greater
diff --git a/strbuf.c b/strbuf.c
index ee96dcfb81..4d31567a1a 100644
--- a/strbuf.c
+++ b/strbuf.c
@@ -78,15 +78,8 @@ void strbuf_grow(struct strbuf *sb, size_t extra)
 
 void strbuf_trim(struct strbuf *sb)
 {
-	char *b = sb->buf;
-	while (sb->len > 0 && isspace((unsigned char)sb->buf[sb->len - 1]))
-		sb->len--;
-	while (sb->len > 0 && isspace(*b)) {
-		b++;
-		sb->len--;
-	}
-	memmove(sb->buf, b, sb->len);
-	sb->buf[sb->len] = '\0';
+	strbuf_rtrim(sb);
+	strbuf_ltrim(sb);
 }
 void strbuf_rtrim(struct strbuf *sb)
 {