diff --git a/project/common.mk b/project/common.mk
index 7f60ce5..09f23bf 100644
--- a/project/common.mk
+++ b/project/common.mk
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ COMMON_SRCS = \
 	src/internal/ntapi.c \
 	src/internal/ntapi_debug.c \
 	src/internal/ntapi_entry_point.c \
+	src/internal/ntapi_open.c \
 	src/ipc/ntapi_tt_create_pipe_v1.c \
 	src/ipc/ntapi_tt_create_pipe_v2.c \
 	src/ldr/ntapi_ldr_create_state_snapshot.c \
diff --git a/src/internal/ntapi_impl.h b/src/internal/ntapi_impl.h
index 9376d24..7bc010a 100644
--- a/src/internal/ntapi_impl.h
+++ b/src/internal/ntapi_impl.h
@@ -114,6 +114,11 @@ extern	ntapi_vtbl	___ntapi_shadow;
 ntapi_internals * __cdecl __ntapi_internals(void);
 
 
+/* helper functions */
+int32_t __ntapi_tt_open_file_utf8(void ** hfile, void * hat, const char * arg, int fprivate, wchar16_t *, uint32_t);
+int32_t __ntapi_tt_open_dir_utf8(void ** hfile, void * hat, const char * arg, int fprivate, wchar16_t *, uint32_t);
+
+
 /* debug */
 #define __ntidx(x) (&(((ntapi_vtbl *)0)->x)) / sizeof(size_t)
 
diff --git a/src/internal/ntapi_open.c b/src/internal/ntapi_open.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e95b228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/internal/ntapi_open.c
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+/********************************************************/
+/*  ntapi: Native API core library                      */
+/*  Copyright (C) 2013--2016  Z. Gilboa                 */
+/*  Released under GPLv2 and GPLv3; see COPYING.NTAPI.  */
+/********************************************************/
+
+#include <psxtypes/psxtypes.h>
+#include <ntcon/ntcon.h>
+#include <ntapi/ntapi.h>
+#include "ntapi_impl.h"
+
+static int32_t __ntapi_tt_open_utf8(
+	void **		hfile,
+	void *		hat,
+	const char *	arg,
+	uint32_t	options,
+	int		fprivate,
+	wchar16_t *	buffer,
+	uint32_t	buflen)
+{
+	int32_t						status;
+	nt_oa						oa;
+	nt_iosb						iosb;
+	nt_unicode_string				path;
+	nt_unicode_conversion_params_utf8_to_utf16	params = {0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0};
+	wchar16_t *					wch;
+	size_t						nbytes;
+
+	/* utf-8 --> utf-16 */
+	params.src		 = (const unsigned char *)arg;
+	params.src_size_in_bytes = __ntapi->tt_string_null_offset_multibyte(arg);
+	params.dst		 = buffer;
+	params.dst_size_in_bytes = buflen;
+
+	if ((status = __ntapi->uc_convert_unicode_stream_utf8_to_utf16(&params)))
+		return status;
+
+	/* convenience */
+	for (wch=buffer, nbytes=params.bytes_written; nbytes; ) {
+		if (*wch == '/')
+			*wch = '\\';
+
+		nbytes -= sizeof(wchar16_t);
+		wch++;
+	}
+
+	/* path */
+	path.maxlen = 0;
+	path.strlen = (uint16_t)params.bytes_written;
+	path.buffer = buffer;
+
+	/* oa */
+	oa.len      = sizeof(nt_oa);
+	oa.root_dir = (buffer[0]=='\\') ? 0 : hat;
+	oa.obj_name = &path;
+	oa.obj_attr = fprivate ? 0 : NT_OBJ_INHERIT;
+	oa.sec_desc = 0;
+	oa.sec_qos  = 0;
+
+	/* open */
+	return __ntapi->zw_open_file(
+		hfile,
+		NT_SEC_SYNCHRONIZE | NT_FILE_READ_ATTRIBUTES | NT_FILE_READ_DATA,
+		&oa,&iosb,
+		NT_FILE_SHARE_READ | NT_FILE_SHARE_WRITE | NT_FILE_SHARE_DELETE,
+		options | NT_FILE_SYNCHRONOUS_IO_ALERT);
+}
+
+int32_t __ntapi_tt_open_file_utf8(
+	void **		hfile,
+	void *		hat,
+	const char *	arg,
+	int		fprivate,
+	wchar16_t *	buffer,
+	uint32_t	buflen)
+{
+	return __ntapi_tt_open_utf8(
+		hfile,hat,arg,
+		NT_FILE_NON_DIRECTORY_FILE,
+		fprivate,buffer,buflen);
+}
+
+int32_t __ntapi_tt_open_dir_utf8(
+	void **		hfile,
+	void *		hat,
+	const char *	arg,
+	int		fprivate,
+	wchar16_t *	buffer,
+	uint32_t	buflen)
+{
+	return __ntapi_tt_open_utf8(
+		hfile,hat,arg,
+		NT_FILE_DIRECTORY_FILE,
+		fprivate,buffer,buflen);
+}