diff --git a/src/libosmo-mgcp/mgcp_common.c b/src/libosmo-mgcp/mgcp_common.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..444a060
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/libosmo-mgcp/mgcp_common.c
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/* Media Gateway Control Protocol Media Gateway: RFC 3435 */
+/* Implementations useful both for the MGCP GW as well as MGCP GW clients */
+
+/*
+ * (C) 2016 by sysmocom s.m.f.c. GmbH <info@sysmocom.de>
+ * All Rights Reserved
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ */
+
+#include <errno.h>
+
+#include <osmocom/core/utils.h>
+#include <osmocom/legacy_mgcp/mgcp.h>
+
+const struct value_string mgcp_connection_mode_strs[] = {
+	{ MGCP_CONN_NONE, "none" },
+	{ MGCP_CONN_RECV_SEND, "sendrecv" },
+	{ MGCP_CONN_SEND_ONLY, "sendonly" },
+	{ MGCP_CONN_RECV_ONLY, "recvonly" },
+	{ MGCP_CONN_LOOPBACK, "loopback" },
+	{ 0, NULL }
+};
+
+/* Ensure that the msg->l2h is NUL terminated. */
+int mgcp_msg_terminate_nul(struct msgb *msg)
+{
+	unsigned char *tail = msg->l2h + msgb_l2len(msg); /* char after l2 data */
+	if (tail[-1] == '\0')
+		/* nothing to do */;
+	else if (msgb_tailroom(msg) > 0)
+		tail[0] = '\0';
+	else if (tail[-1] == '\r' || tail[-1] == '\n')
+		tail[-1] = '\0';
+	else {
+		LOGP(DLMGCP, LOGL_ERROR, "Cannot NUL terminate MGCP message: "
+		     "Length: %d, Buffer size: %d\n",
+		     msgb_l2len(msg), msg->data_len);
+		return -ENOTSUP;
+	}
+	return 0;
+}