diff --git a/hash.h b/hash.h
index 7c8238b..80881ee 100644
--- a/hash.h
+++ b/hash.h
@@ -98,4 +98,17 @@ struct git_hash_algo {
 };
 extern const struct git_hash_algo hash_algos[GIT_HASH_NALGOS];
 
+/*
+ * Return a GIT_HASH_* constant based on the name.  Returns GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN if
+ * the name doesn't match a known algorithm.
+ */
+int hash_algo_by_name(const char *name);
+/* Identical, except based on the format ID. */
+int hash_algo_by_id(uint32_t format_id);
+/* Identical, except for a pointer to struct git_hash_algo. */
+static inline int hash_algo_by_ptr(const struct git_hash_algo *p)
+{
+	return p - hash_algos;
+}
+
 #endif
diff --git a/sha1-file.c b/sha1-file.c
index e29825f..3a75d51 100644
--- a/sha1-file.c
+++ b/sha1-file.c
@@ -122,6 +122,27 @@ const char *empty_blob_oid_hex(void)
 	return oid_to_hex_r(buf, the_hash_algo->empty_blob);
 }
 
+int hash_algo_by_name(const char *name)
+{
+	int i;
+	if (!name)
+		return GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN;
+	for (i = 1; i < GIT_HASH_NALGOS; i++)
+		if (!strcmp(name, hash_algos[i].name))
+			return i;
+	return GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN;
+}
+
+int hash_algo_by_id(uint32_t format_id)
+{
+	int i;
+	for (i = 1; i < GIT_HASH_NALGOS; i++)
+		if (format_id == hash_algos[i].format_id)
+			return i;
+	return GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN;
+}
+
+
 /*
  * This is meant to hold a *small* number of objects that you would
  * want read_sha1_file() to be able to return, but yet you do not want