diff --git a/support/misc/utils.mk b/support/misc/utils.mk
index c44319338e..b422c67d76 100644
--- a/support/misc/utils.mk
+++ b/support/misc/utils.mk
@@ -70,6 +70,10 @@ finddirclauses = $(call notfirstword,$(patsubst %,-o -path '$(1)/%',$(2)))
 # notfirstword(wordlist): returns all but the first word in wordlist
 notfirstword = $(wordlist 2,$(words $(1)),$(1))
 
+# build a comma-separated list of quoted items, from a space-separated
+# list of unquoted items:   a b c d  -->  "a", "b", "c", "d"
+make-comma-list = $(subst $(space),$(comma)$(space),$(patsubst %,"%",$(strip $(1))))
+
 # Needed for the foreach loops to loop over the list of hooks, so that
 # each hook call is properly separated by a newline.
 define sep