diff --git a/config/functions b/config/functions
index f6964b08d8..a87c9ac35e 100644
--- a/config/functions
+++ b/config/functions
@@ -65,6 +65,20 @@ kernel_path() {
   echo $ROOT/$BUILD/${PKG_NAME}-${PKG_VERSION}
 }
 
+# get package's build dir
+get_build_dir() {
+  if [ ! -z $1 ] ; then
+    local _PKG_DIR=$(find $ROOT/packages -name $1)
+    if [ -d $_PKG_DIR -a -f $_PKG_DIR/package.mk ] ; then
+      . $_PKG_DIR/package.mk
+    # TODO: remove
+    elif [ -d $_PKG_DIR -a -f $_PKG_DIR/meta ] ; then
+      . $_PKG_DIR/meta
+    fi
+    echo $ROOT/$BUILD/${PKG_NAME}-${PKG_VERSION}
+  fi
+}
+
 tolower(){
   echo "$@" | tr ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
 }