diff --git a/hwid_override.cc b/hwid_override.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..90e413b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hwid_override.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2013 The Chromium OS Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+// found in the LICENSE file.
+
+#include "update_engine/hwid_override.h"
+
+#include <map>
+#include <string>
+
+#include <base/basictypes.h>
+#include <base/file_path.h>
+#include <base/file_util.h>
+
+#include "update_engine/simple_key_value_store.h"
+
+using std::map;
+using std::string;
+
+namespace chromeos_update_engine {
+
+const char HwidOverride::kHwidOverrideKey[] = "HWID_OVERRIDE";
+
+HwidOverride::HwidOverride() {}
+
+HwidOverride::~HwidOverride() {}
+
+std::string HwidOverride::Read(const base::FilePath& root) {
+  base::FilePath kFile(root.value() + "/etc/lsb-release");
+  string file_data;
+  map<string, string> data;
+  if (file_util::ReadFileToString(kFile, &file_data)) {
+    data = simple_key_value_store::ParseString(file_data);
+  }
+  return data[kHwidOverrideKey];
+}
+
+}  // namespace chromeos_update_engine