diff --git a/src/utf8.cpp b/src/utf8.cpp
index 8c6b8d7f4..6620f9e5e 100644
--- a/src/utf8.cpp
+++ b/src/utf8.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #define L10N                                           // Localization complete.
 
 #include <string>
+#include <text.h>
 #include <utf8.h>
 #include <i18n.h>
 
@@ -192,6 +193,19 @@ unsigned int utf8_length (const std::string& str)
   return charLength;
 }
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// Width of a string in character cells.
+unsigned int utf8_width (const std::string& str)
+{
+  unsigned int length = 0;
+  std::string::size_type i = 0;
+  unsigned int c;
+  while ((c = utf8_next_char (str, i)))
+    length += mk_wcwidth (c);
+
+  return length;
+}
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 unsigned int utf8_text_length (const std::string& str)
 {
diff --git a/src/utf8.h b/src/utf8.h
index 3b67f2ab8..a09349274 100644
--- a/src/utf8.h
+++ b/src/utf8.h
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ std::string utf8_character (unsigned int);
 int utf8_sequence (unsigned int);
 unsigned int utf8_length (const std::string&);
 unsigned int utf8_text_length (const std::string&);
+unsigned int utf8_width (const std::string& str);
 const std::string utf8_substr (const std::string&, unsigned int, unsigned int length = 0);
 
 
diff --git a/test/utf8.t.cpp b/test/utf8.t.cpp
index 487933548..3885408e8 100644
--- a/test/utf8.t.cpp
+++ b/test/utf8.t.cpp
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 int main (int argc, char** argv)
 {
-  UnitTest t (6);
+  UnitTest t (10);
 
   std::string ascii_text = "This is a test";
   std::string utf8_text  = "más sábado miércoles";
@@ -57,6 +57,12 @@ int main (int argc, char** argv)
   t.is (utf8_substr (ascii_text, 0, 2), "Th", "ASCII utf8_substr");
   t.is (utf8_substr (utf8_text, 0, 2),  "má", "UTF8 utf8_substr");
 
+  // unsigned int utf8_width (const std::string&);
+  t.is (utf8_width ("one"), 3, "utf8_width 'one' --> 3");
+  t.is (utf8_width ("más sábado miércoles"), 20, "utf8_width 'más sábado miércoles' --> 20");
+  t.is (utf8_width ("改变各种颜色"), 12, "utf8_width '改变各种颜色' --> 12");
+  t.is (utf8_width ("改"), 2, "utf8_width '改' --> 2");
+
   return 0;
 }