diff --git a/c/Makefile.no-autoconfig b/c/Makefile.no-autoconfig
index 91f24e9af..60190e3ff 100644
--- a/c/Makefile.no-autoconfig
+++ b/c/Makefile.no-autoconfig
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ TEST_MULTIPLE_CONTAINERS_SRCS = \
   lib/mlrutil.c lib/mlr_globals.c lib/string_builder.c \
   containers/lrec.c containers/header_keeper.c containers/sllv.c \
   containers/slls.c \
+  containers/string_array.c \
   containers/hss.c \
   containers/lhmsi.c \
   containers/lhmss.c \
diff --git a/c/containers/string_array.c b/c/containers/string_array.c
index 4cdd32802..1b10d6323 100644
--- a/c/containers/string_array.c
+++ b/c/containers/string_array.c
@@ -22,3 +22,30 @@ void string_array_free(string_array_t* parray) {
 	free(parray->strings);
 	free(parray);
 }
+
+string_array_t* string_array_from_line(char* line, char ifs) {
+	if (*line == 0) // empty string splits to empty array
+		return string_array_alloc(0);
+
+	int num_commas = 0;
+
+	for (char* p = line; *p; p++)
+		if (*p == ifs)
+			num_commas++;
+
+	string_array_t* parray = string_array_alloc(num_commas + 1);
+
+	char* start = line;
+	int i = 0;
+	for (char* p = line; *p; p++) {
+		if (*p == ifs) {
+			*p = 0;
+			p++;
+			parray->strings[i++] = start;
+			start = p;
+		}
+	}
+	parray->strings[i++] = start;
+
+	return parray;
+}
diff --git a/c/containers/string_array.h b/c/containers/string_array.h
index 107772a42..d0ddd9245 100644
--- a/c/containers/string_array.h
+++ b/c/containers/string_array.h
@@ -10,5 +10,6 @@ typedef struct _string_array_t {
 
 string_array_t* string_array_alloc(int length);
 void string_array_free(string_array_t* parray);
+string_array_t* string_array_from_line(char* line, char ifs);
 
 #endif // STRING_ARRAY_H
diff --git a/c/unit_test/test_multiple_containers.c b/c/unit_test/test_multiple_containers.c
index f4538a752..9275dbffa 100644
--- a/c/unit_test/test_multiple_containers.c
+++ b/c/unit_test/test_multiple_containers.c
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include "lib/mlrutil.h"
 #include "containers/slls.h"
 #include "containers/sllv.h"
+#include "containers/string_array.h"
 #include "containers/hss.h"
 #include "containers/lhmsi.h"
 #include "containers/lhmss.h"
@@ -98,6 +99,28 @@ static char* test_sllv() {
 	return NULL;
 }
 
+// ----------------------------------------------------------------
+static char* test_string_array() {
+	string_array_t* parray = string_array_from_line(mlr_strdup_or_die(""), ',');
+	mu_assert_lf(parray->length == 0);
+	string_array_free(parray);
+
+	parray = string_array_from_line(mlr_strdup_or_die("a"), ',');
+	mu_assert_lf(parray->length == 1);
+	mu_assert_lf(streq(parray->strings[0], "a"));
+
+	parray = string_array_from_line(mlr_strdup_or_die("c,d,a,e,b"), ',');
+	mu_assert_lf(parray->length == 5);
+
+	mu_assert_lf(streq(parray->strings[0], "c"));
+	mu_assert_lf(streq(parray->strings[1], "d"));
+	mu_assert_lf(streq(parray->strings[2], "a"));
+	mu_assert_lf(streq(parray->strings[3], "e"));
+	mu_assert_lf(streq(parray->strings[4], "b"));
+
+	return NULL;
+}
+
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------
 static char* test_hss() {
 
@@ -624,6 +647,7 @@ static char* test_dheap() {
 static char * run_all_tests() {
 	mu_run_test(test_slls);
 	mu_run_test(test_sllv);
+	mu_run_test(test_string_array);
 	mu_run_test(test_hss);
 	mu_run_test(test_lhmsi);
 	mu_run_test(test_lhmss);