diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ffa8678..27ce5ef 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ LIBUTILSRC =\
 	libutil/getlines.c\
 	libutil/human.c\
 	libutil/md5.c\
+	libutil/mkdirp.c\
 	libutil/mode.c\
 	libutil/putword.c\
 	libutil/reallocarray.c\
diff --git a/libutil/mkdirp.c b/libutil/mkdirp.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7796e24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libutil/mkdirp.c
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/* See LICENSE file for copyright and license details. */
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <limits.h>
+
+#include "../util.h"
+
+int
+mkdirp(const char *path)
+{
+	char tmp[PATH_MAX], *p;
+
+	estrlcpy(tmp, path, sizeof(tmp));
+	for (p = tmp + (tmp[0] == '/'); *p; p++) {
+		if (*p != '/')
+			continue;
+		*p = '\0';
+		if (mkdir(tmp, S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO) < 0 && errno != EEXIST) {
+			weprintf("mkdir %s:", tmp);
+			return -1;
+		}
+		*p = '/';
+	}
+	if (mkdir(tmp, S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO) < 0 && errno != EEXIST) {
+		weprintf("mkdir %s:", tmp);
+		return -1;
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/mkdir.c b/mkdir.c
index 9d4951a..6de0d1a 100644
--- a/mkdir.c
+++ b/mkdir.c
@@ -6,29 +6,6 @@
 
 #include "util.h"
 
-static int
-mkdirp(char *path)
-{
-	char *p;
-
-	for (p = path + (*path == '/'); *p; p++) {
-		if (*p != '/')
-			continue;
-		*p = '\0';
-		if (mkdir(path, S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO) < 0 && errno != EEXIST) {
-			weprintf("mkdir %s:", path);
-			*p = '/';
-			return -1;
-		}
-		*p = '/';
-	}
-	if (mkdir(path, S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO) < 0 && errno != EEXIST) {
-		weprintf("mkdir %s:", path);
-		return -1;
-	}
-	return 0;
-}
-
 static void
 usage(void)
 {
diff --git a/tar.c b/tar.c
index a115325..06fb654 100644
--- a/tar.c
+++ b/tar.c
@@ -173,29 +173,6 @@ archive(const char *path)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int
-mkdirp(char *path)
-{
-	char *p;
-
-	for (p = path; *p; p++) {
-		if (*p != '/')
-			continue;
-		*p = '\0';
-		if (mkdir(path, S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO) < 0 && errno != EEXIST) {
-			weprintf("mkdir %s:", path);
-			*p = '/';
-			return -1;
-		}
-		*p = '/';
-	}
-	if (mkdir(path, S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO) < 0 && errno != EEXIST) {
-		weprintf("mkdir %s:", path);
-		return -1;
-	}
-	return 0;
-}
-
 static int
 unarchive(char *fname, ssize_t l, char b[BLKSIZ])
 {
diff --git a/util.h b/util.h
index a878d73..7dd5713 100644
--- a/util.h
+++ b/util.h
@@ -74,3 +74,4 @@ long long strtonum(const char *, long long, long long, const char **);
 long long enstrtonum(int, const char *, long long, long long);
 long long estrtonum(const char *, long long, long long);
 size_t unescape(char *);
+int mkdirp(const char *);