diff --git a/include/qemu/cutils.h b/include/qemu/cutils.h
index b54c847e0f..ff2b3f4614 100644
--- a/include/qemu/cutils.h
+++ b/include/qemu/cutils.h
@@ -182,5 +182,6 @@ int uleb128_decode_small(const uint8_t *in, uint32_t *n);
  * *str1 is <, == or > than *str2.
  */
 int qemu_pstrcmp0(const char **str1, const char **str2);
+int qemu_strtotime_ns(const char *nptr, const char **end, uint64_t *result);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/tests/test-cutils.c b/tests/test-cutils.c
index 1aa8351520..d6a0824efd 100644
--- a/tests/test-cutils.c
+++ b/tests/test-cutils.c
@@ -2179,6 +2179,198 @@ static void test_qemu_strtosz_metric(void)
     g_assert(endptr == str + 6);
 }
 
+static void test_qemu_strtotime_ns_simple(void)
+{
+    const char *str;
+    const char *endptr;
+    int err;
+    uint64_t res = 0xbaadf00d;
+
+    str = "0";
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 0);
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 1);
+
+    str = "56789";
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 56789);
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 5);
+
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, NULL, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 56789);
+
+    /* Note: precision is 53 bits since we're parsing with strtod() */
+
+    str = "9007199254740991"; /* 2^53-1 */
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 0x1fffffffffffff);
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 16);
+
+    str = "9007199254740992"; /* 2^53 */
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 0x20000000000000);
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 16);
+
+    str = "9007199254740993"; /* 2^53+1 */
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 0x20000000000000); /* rounded to 53 bits */
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 16);
+
+    str = "18446744073709549568"; /* 0xfffffffffffff800 (53 msbs set) */
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 0xfffffffffffff800);
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 20);
+
+    str = "18446744073709550591"; /* 0xfffffffffffffbff */
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 0xfffffffffffff800); /* rounded to 53 bits */
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 20);
+
+    /* 0x7ffffffffffffe00..0x7fffffffffffffff get rounded to
+     * 0x8000000000000000, thus -ERANGE; see test_qemu_strtosz_erange() */
+}
+
+static void test_qemu_strtotime_ns_units(void)
+{
+    const char *ns = "1ns";
+    const char *us = "1us";
+    const char *ms = "1ms";
+    const char *s = "1s";
+    int err;
+    const char *endptr;
+    uint64_t res = 0xbaadf00d;
+
+    /* default time unit is ns */
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(ns, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 1);
+    g_assert(endptr == ns + 3);
+
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(us, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 1000);
+    g_assert(endptr == us + 3);
+
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(ms, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 1000000);
+    g_assert(endptr == ms + 3);
+
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(s, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 1000000000LL);
+    g_assert(endptr == s + 2);
+}
+
+static void test_qemu_strtotime_ns_float(void)
+{
+    const char *str = "56.789us";
+    int err;
+    const char *endptr;
+    uint64_t res = 0xbaadf00d;
+
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 56.789 * 1000);
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 8);
+}
+
+static void test_qemu_strtotime_ns_invalid(void)
+{
+    const char *str;
+    const char *endptr;
+    int err;
+    uint64_t res = 0xbaadf00d;
+
+    str = "";
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, -EINVAL);
+    g_assert(endptr == str);
+
+    str = " \t ";
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, -EINVAL);
+    g_assert(endptr == str);
+
+    str = "crap";
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, -EINVAL);
+    g_assert(endptr == str);
+
+    str = "inf";
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, -EINVAL);
+    g_assert(endptr == str);
+
+    str = "NaN";
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, -EINVAL);
+    g_assert(endptr == str);
+}
+
+static void test_qemu_strtotime_ns_trailing(void)
+{
+    const char *str;
+    const char *endptr;
+    int err;
+    uint64_t res = 0xbaadf00d;
+
+    str = "123xxx";
+
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, NULL, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, -EINVAL);
+
+    str = "1msxxx";
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, 0);
+    g_assert_cmpint(res, ==, 1000000);
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 3);
+
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, NULL, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, -EINVAL);
+}
+
+static void test_qemu_strtotime_ns_erange(void)
+{
+    const char *str;
+    const char *endptr;
+    int err;
+    uint64_t res = 0xbaadf00d;
+
+    str = "-1";
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, -ERANGE);
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 2);
+
+    str = "18446744073709550592"; /* 0xfffffffffffffc00 */
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, -ERANGE);
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 20);
+
+    str = "18446744073709551615"; /* 2^64-1 */
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, -ERANGE);
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 20);
+
+    str = "18446744073709551616"; /* 2^64 */
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, -ERANGE);
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 20);
+
+    str = "200000000000000ms";
+    err = qemu_strtotime_ns(str, &endptr, &res);
+    g_assert_cmpint(err, ==, -ERANGE);
+    g_assert(endptr == str + 17);
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     g_test_init(&argc, &argv, NULL);
@@ -2456,5 +2648,17 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     g_test_add_func("/cutils/strtosz/metric",
                     test_qemu_strtosz_metric);
 
+    g_test_add_func("/cutils/strtotime/simple",
+                    test_qemu_strtotime_ns_simple);
+    g_test_add_func("/cutils/strtotime/units",
+                    test_qemu_strtotime_ns_units);
+    g_test_add_func("/cutils/strtotime/float",
+                    test_qemu_strtotime_ns_float);
+    g_test_add_func("/cutils/strtotime/invalid",
+                    test_qemu_strtotime_ns_invalid);
+    g_test_add_func("/cutils/strtotime/trailing",
+                    test_qemu_strtotime_ns_trailing);
+    g_test_add_func("/cutils/strtotime/erange",
+                    test_qemu_strtotime_ns_erange);
     return g_test_run();
 }
diff --git a/util/cutils.c b/util/cutils.c
index 86d6e271fa..699f2b3300 100644
--- a/util/cutils.c
+++ b/util/cutils.c
@@ -286,6 +286,20 @@ int qemu_strtosz_metric(const char *nptr, const char **end, uint64_t *result)
     return do_strtosz(nptr, end, "B", 1000, result);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Convert string to time, support time unit are ns for nanosecond, us for
+ * microsecond, ms for millisecond and s for second. End pointer will be
+ * returned in *end, if not NULL. Return -ERANGE on overflow, and -EINVAL on
+ * other error.
+ */
+int qemu_strtotime_ns(const char *nptr, const char **end, uint64_t *result)
+{
+    static const char *suffixes[] = { "ns", "us", "ms", "s" };
+
+    return do_strtomul(nptr, end, suffixes, ARRAY_SIZE(suffixes), "ns", 1000,
+                       result);
+}
+
 /**
  * Helper function for error checking after strtol() and the like
  */
