diff --git a/include/util/time.h b/include/util/time.h
index 287698dec..76ec2d7f1 100644
--- a/include/util/time.h
+++ b/include/util/time.h
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@ uint32_t get_current_time_msec(void);
  */
 int64_t timespec_to_msec(const struct timespec *a);
 
+/**
+ * Convert a timespec to nanoseconds.
+ */
+int64_t timespec_to_nsec(const struct timespec *t);
+
 /**
  * Convert nanoseconds to a timespec.
  */
diff --git a/util/time.c b/util/time.c
index 06e42b40d..e3a4590ad 100644
--- a/util/time.c
+++ b/util/time.c
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ int64_t timespec_to_msec(const struct timespec *a) {
 	return (int64_t)a->tv_sec * 1000 + a->tv_nsec / 1000000;
 }
 
+int64_t timespec_to_nsec(const struct timespec *t) {
+	return (int64_t)t->tv_sec * NSEC_PER_SEC + t->tv_nsec;
+}
+
 void timespec_from_nsec(struct timespec *r, int64_t nsec) {
 	r->tv_sec = nsec / NSEC_PER_SEC;
 	r->tv_nsec = nsec % NSEC_PER_SEC;