diff --git a/src/de/measite/minidns/util/NameUtil.java b/src/de/measite/minidns/util/NameUtil.java
index c42ac3ebe..a7edc22ad 100644
--- a/src/de/measite/minidns/util/NameUtil.java
+++ b/src/de/measite/minidns/util/NameUtil.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import java.io.DataOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.IDN;
 import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 
 public class NameUtil {
 
@@ -13,6 +14,19 @@ public class NameUtil {
         return name.length() + 2;
     }
 
+    public static boolean idnEquals(String name1, String name2) {
+        if (name1 == name2) return true; // catches null, null
+        if (name1 == null) return false;
+        if (name2 == null) return false;
+        if (name1.equals(name2)) return true;
+
+        try {
+            return Arrays.equals(toByteArray(name1),toByteArray(name2));
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            return false; // impossible
+        }
+    }
+
     public static byte[] toByteArray(String name) throws IOException {
         ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream(64);
         DataOutputStream dos = new DataOutputStream(baos);