diff --git a/libbb/seek_ared_file.c b/libbb/seek_ared_file.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..67c789d6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libbb/seek_ared_file.c
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include "libbb.h"
+
+extern int seek_ared_file(FILE *in_file, ar_headers_t *headers, const char *tar_gz_file)
+{
+	/* find the headers for the specified .tar.gz file */
+	while (headers->next != NULL) {
+		if (strcmp(headers->name, tar_gz_file) == 0) {
+			fseek(in_file, headers->offset, SEEK_SET);
+			return(EXIT_SUCCESS);
+		}
+		headers = headers->next;
+	}
+
+	return(EXIT_FAILURE);
+}
\ No newline at end of file