diff --git a/cmdutils.c b/cmdutils.c
index 7c4a530ef9c92d3475c32dcd0a2321cf28ccd42e..167d15a71c9c517b02cd91aac72b39dec35bc713 100644
--- a/cmdutils.c
+++ b/cmdutils.c
@@ -472,3 +472,14 @@ void show_formats(void)
 "decoder corresponds to the h263 and h263p encoders, for file formats it is even\n"
 "worse.\n");
 }
+
+int read_yesno(void)
+{
+    int c = getchar();
+    int yesno = (toupper(c) == 'Y');
+
+    while (c != '\n' && c != EOF)
+        c = getchar();
+
+    return yesno;
+}
diff --git a/cmdutils.h b/cmdutils.h
index 959c3f7cd289ea96191c5a800b02bfc342c32c85..e30ea0f9afc13a975eb19bfa9d5973cc09c7d838 100644
--- a/cmdutils.h
+++ b/cmdutils.h
@@ -152,4 +152,10 @@ void show_license(void);
  */
 void show_formats(void);
 
+/**
+ * Returns a positive value if reads from standard input a line
+ * starting with [yY], otherwise returns 0.
+ */
+int read_yesno(void);
+
 #endif /* FFMPEG_CMDUTILS_H */