diff --git a/cmdline/stress.c b/cmdline/stress.c
index 9fc90065..b7d170d9 100644
--- a/cmdline/stress.c
+++ b/cmdline/stress.c
@@ -412,6 +412,29 @@ void stress_functions(dc_context_t* context)
 		assert( strcmp(str, "")==0 );
 		free(str);
 
+		clist* list = dc_str_to_clist(NULL, " ");
+		assert( clist_count(list)==0 );
+		clist_free_content(list);
+		clist_free(list);
+
+		list = dc_str_to_clist("", " ");
+		assert( clist_count(list)==1 );
+		clist_free_content(list);
+		clist_free(list);
+
+		list = dc_str_to_clist(" ", " ");
+		assert( clist_count(list)==2 );
+		clist_free_content(list);
+		clist_free(list);
+
+		list = dc_str_to_clist("foo bar test", " ");
+		assert(clist_count(list)==3);
+		str = dc_str_from_clist(list, " ");
+		assert( strcmp(str, "foo bar test")==0 );
+		clist_free_content(list);
+		clist_free(list);
+		free(str);
+
 		assert( strcmp("fresh="     DC_STRINGIFY(DC_STATE_IN_FRESH),      "fresh=10")==0 ); /* these asserts check the values, the existance of the macros and also DC_STRINGIFY() */
 		assert( strcmp("noticed="   DC_STRINGIFY(DC_STATE_IN_NOTICED),    "noticed=13")==0 );
 		assert( strcmp("seen="      DC_STRINGIFY(DC_STATE_IN_SEEN),       "seen=16")==0 );
diff --git a/src/dc_tools.c b/src/dc_tools.c
index 9170af14..55e0aa0a 100644
--- a/src/dc_tools.c
+++ b/src/dc_tools.c
@@ -552,6 +552,58 @@ char* dc_insert_breaks(const char* in, int break_every, const char* break_chars)
 }
 
 
+// Join clist element to a string.
+char* dc_str_from_clist(const clist* list, const char* delimiter)
+{
+	dc_strbuilder_t str;
+	dc_strbuilder_init(&str, 256);
+
+	if (list) {
+		for (clistiter* cur = clist_begin(list); cur!=NULL ; cur=clist_next(cur)) {
+			const char* rfc724_mid = clist_content(cur);
+			if (rfc724_mid) {
+				if (str.buf[0] && delimiter) {
+					dc_strbuilder_cat(&str, delimiter);
+				}
+				dc_strbuilder_cat(&str, rfc724_mid);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return str.buf;
+}
+
+
+// Split a string by a character.
+// If the string is empty or NULL, an empty list is returned.
+// The returned clist must be freed using clist_free_content()+clist_free()
+// or given eg. to libetpan objects.
+clist* dc_str_to_clist(const char* str, const char* delimiter)
+{
+	clist* list = clist_new();
+	if (list==NULL) {
+		exit(54);
+	}
+
+	if (str && delimiter && strlen(delimiter)>=1) {
+		const char* p1 = str;
+		while (1) {
+			const char* p2 = strstr(p1, delimiter);
+			if (p2==NULL) {
+				clist_append(list,  (void*)strdup(p1));
+				break;
+			}
+			else {
+				clist_append(list, (void*)strndup(p1, p2-p1));
+				p1 = p2+strlen(delimiter);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return list;
+}
+
+
 /*******************************************************************************
  * clist tools
  ******************************************************************************/
diff --git a/src/dc_tools.h b/src/dc_tools.h
index bd310750..6ffb2f88 100644
--- a/src/dc_tools.h
+++ b/src/dc_tools.h
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ void    dc_truncate_n_unwrap_str   (char*, int approx_characters, int do_unwrap)
 carray* dc_split_into_lines        (const char* buf_terminated); /* split string into lines*/
 void    dc_free_splitted_lines     (carray* lines);
 char*   dc_insert_breaks           (const char*, int break_every, const char* break_chars); /* insert a break every n characters, the return must be free()'d */
+char*   dc_str_from_clist          (const clist*, const char* delimiter);
+clist*  dc_str_to_clist            (const char*, const char* delimiter);
 
 // from libetpan/src/data-types/base64.h (which cannot be included without adding libetpan/src/... to the include-search-paths, which would result in double-file-name-errors, so, for now, we use this hack)
 char*   encode_base64              (const char * in, int len);