diff --git a/notmuch-client.h b/notmuch-client.h
index d7b352e8..5f288368 100644
--- a/notmuch-client.h
+++ b/notmuch-client.h
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ typedef GMimeCipherContext notmuch_crypto_context_t;
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <signal.h>
 
-#include <talloc.h>
+#include "talloc-extra.h"
 
 #define unused(x) x __attribute__ ((unused))
 
diff --git a/util/Makefile.local b/util/Makefile.local
index a11e35b9..29c0ce6e 100644
--- a/util/Makefile.local
+++ b/util/Makefile.local
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ dir := util
 extra_cflags += -I$(srcdir)/$(dir)
 
 libutil_c_srcs := $(dir)/xutil.c $(dir)/error_util.c $(dir)/hex-escape.c \
-		  $(dir)/string-util.c
+		  $(dir)/string-util.c $(dir)/talloc-extra.c
 
 libutil_modules := $(libutil_c_srcs:.c=.o)
 
diff --git a/util/talloc-extra.c b/util/talloc-extra.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..96262470
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/talloc-extra.c
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#include <string.h>
+#include "talloc-extra.h"
+
+char *
+talloc_strndup_named_const (void *ctx, const char *str,
+			    size_t len, const char *name)
+{
+    char *ptr = talloc_strndup (ctx, str, len);
+
+    if (ptr)
+	talloc_set_name_const (ptr, name);
+
+    return ptr;
+}
diff --git a/util/talloc-extra.h b/util/talloc-extra.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eac5dc05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/talloc-extra.h
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#ifndef _TALLOC_EXTRA_H
+#define _TALLOC_EXTRA_H
+
+#include <talloc.h>
+
+/* Like talloc_strndup, but take an extra parameter for the internal talloc
+ * name (for debugging) */
+
+char *
+talloc_strndup_named_const (void *ctx, const char *str,
+			    size_t len, const char *name);
+
+/* use the __location__ macro from talloc.h to name a string according to its
+ * source location */
+
+#define talloc_strndup_debug(ctx, str, len) talloc_strndup_named_const (ctx, str, len, __location__)
+
+#endif