diff --git a/src/libsystemd/sd-netlink/netlink-message.c b/src/libsystemd/sd-netlink/netlink-message.c
index 0d9a57ee9e..da4f5ba688 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd/sd-netlink/netlink-message.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd/sd-netlink/netlink-message.c
@@ -694,6 +694,30 @@ int sd_netlink_message_read(sd_netlink_message *m, unsigned short type, size_t s
         return r;
 }
 
+int sd_netlink_message_read_data(sd_netlink_message *m, unsigned short type, size_t *ret_size, void **ret_data) {
+        void *attr_data, *data;
+        int r;
+
+        assert_return(m, -EINVAL);
+
+        r = netlink_message_read_internal(m, type, &attr_data, NULL);
+        if (r < 0)
+                return r;
+
+        if (ret_data) {
+                data = memdup(attr_data, r);
+                if (!data)
+                        return -ENOMEM;
+
+                *ret_data = data;
+        }
+
+        if (ret_size)
+                *ret_size = r;
+
+        return r;
+}
+
 int sd_netlink_message_read_string_strdup(sd_netlink_message *m, unsigned short type, char **data) {
         void *attr_data;
         char *str;
diff --git a/src/systemd/sd-netlink.h b/src/systemd/sd-netlink.h
index ce7ed36d85..e01d960e37 100644
--- a/src/systemd/sd-netlink.h
+++ b/src/systemd/sd-netlink.h
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ int sd_netlink_message_open_container_union(sd_netlink_message *m, unsigned shor
 int sd_netlink_message_close_container(sd_netlink_message *m);
 
 int sd_netlink_message_read(sd_netlink_message *m, unsigned short type, size_t size, void *data);
+int sd_netlink_message_read_data(sd_netlink_message *m, unsigned short type, size_t *ret_size, void **ret_data);
 int sd_netlink_message_read_string_strdup(sd_netlink_message *m, unsigned short type, char **data);
 int sd_netlink_message_read_string(sd_netlink_message *m, unsigned short type, const char **data);
 int sd_netlink_message_read_strv(sd_netlink_message *m, unsigned short container_type, unsigned short type_id, char ***ret);