diff --git a/common/os/os.cxx b/common/os/os.cxx
index c08b572..46470ea 100644
--- a/common/os/os.cxx
+++ b/common/os/os.cxx
@@ -85,3 +85,13 @@
 	return 0;
 }
 
+int fileexists(char *file)
+{
+#ifdef WIN32
+  return (GetFileAttributes(file) == INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES) ? -1 : 0;
+#else
+  return access(file, R_OK);
+#endif
+}
+
+