diff --git a/js/misc/util.js b/js/misc/util.js
index 4d9a7c41d..36640580b 100644
--- a/js/misc/util.js
+++ b/js/misc/util.js
@@ -232,3 +232,53 @@ function fixupPCIDescription(desc) {
 
     return out.join(' ');
 }
+
+// lowerBound:
+// @array: an array or array-like object, already sorted
+//         according to @cmp
+// @val: the value to add
+// @cmp: a comparator (or undefined to compare as numbers)
+//
+// Returns the position of the first element that is not
+// lower than @val, according to @cmp.
+// That is, returns the first position at which it
+// is possible to insert @val without violating the
+// order.
+// This is quite like an ordinary binary search, except
+// that it doesn't stop at first element comparing equal.
+
+function lowerBound(array, val, cmp) {
+    let min, max, mid, v;
+    cmp = cmp || function(a, b) { return a - b; };
+
+    if (array.length == 0)
+        return 0;
+
+    min = 0; max = array.length;
+    while (min < (max - 1)) {
+        mid = Math.floor((min + max) / 2);
+        v = cmp(array[mid], val);
+
+        if (v < 0)
+            min = mid + 1;
+        else
+            max = mid;
+    }
+
+    return (cmp(array[min], val) < 0) ? max : min;
+}
+
+// insertSorted:
+// @array: an array sorted according to @cmp
+// @val: a value to insert
+// @cmp: the sorting function
+//
+// Inserts @val into @array, preserving the
+// sorting invariants.
+// Returns the position at which it was inserted
+function insertSorted(array, val, cmp) {
+    let pos = lowerBound(array, val, cmp);
+    array.splice(pos, 0, val);
+
+    return pos;
+}
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am
index caf3f528f..e848b342f 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ TEST_JS =					\
 	testcommon/face-plain.png		\
 	testcommon/ui.js                        \
 	unit/format.js				\
+	unit/insertSorted.js			\
 	unit/markup.js				\
 	unit/jsParse.js				\
 	unit/url.js
diff --git a/tests/unit/insertSorted.js b/tests/unit/insertSorted.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e23848a22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/insertSorted.js
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/* -*- mode: js2; js2-basic-offset: 4; indent-tabs-mode: nil -*- */
+
+// Test cases for Util.insertSorted
+
+const JsUnit = imports.jsUnit;
+
+// Needed so that Util can bring some UI stuff
+// we don't actually use
+const Environment = imports.ui.environment;
+Environment.init();
+const Util = imports.misc.util;
+
+function assertArrayEquals(errorMessage, array1, array2) {
+    JsUnit.assertEquals(errorMessage + ' length',
+                        array1.length, array2.length);
+    for (let j = 0; j < array1.length; j++) {
+        JsUnit.assertEquals(errorMessage + ' item ' + j,
+                            array1[j], array2[j]);
+    }
+}
+
+function cmp(one, two) {
+    return one-two;
+}
+
+let arrayInt = [1, 2, 3, 5, 6];
+Util.insertSorted(arrayInt, 4, cmp);
+
+assertArrayEquals('first test', [1,2,3,4,5,6], arrayInt);
+
+// no comparator, integer sorting is implied
+Util.insertSorted(arrayInt, 3);
+
+assertArrayEquals('second test', [1,2,3,3,4,5,6], arrayInt);
+
+let obj1 = { a: 1 };
+let obj2 = { a: 2, b: 0 };
+let obj3 = { a: 2, b: 1 };
+let obj4 = { a: 3 };
+
+function objCmp(one, two) {
+    return one.a - two.a;
+}
+
+let arrayObj = [obj1, obj3, obj4];
+
+// obj2 compares equivalent to obj3, should be
+// inserted before
+Util.insertSorted(arrayObj, obj2, objCmp);
+
+assertArrayEquals('object test', [obj1, obj2, obj3, obj4], arrayObj);
+
+function checkedCmp(one, two) {
+    if (typeof one != 'number' ||
+        typeof two != 'number')
+        throw new TypeError('Invalid type passed to checkedCmp');
+
+    return one-two;
+}
+
+let arrayEmpty = [];
+
+// check that no comparisons are made when
+// inserting in a empty array
+Util.insertSorted(arrayEmpty, 3, checkedCmp);
+
+// Some more insertions
+Util.insertSorted(arrayEmpty, 2, checkedCmp);
+Util.insertSorted(arrayEmpty, 1, checkedCmp);
+
+assertArrayEquals('checkedCmp test', [1, 2, 3], arrayEmpty);