diff --git a/simgear/misc/strutils.cxx b/simgear/misc/strutils.cxx
index ebe83e38..e2bc3034 100644
--- a/simgear/misc/strutils.cxx
+++ b/simgear/misc/strutils.cxx
@@ -739,6 +739,19 @@ std::string error_string(int errnum)
 #endif  // !defined(_GNU_SOURCE)
 }
 
+bool to_bool(const std::string& s)
+{
+    if (!strcasecmp(s.c_str(), "yes")) return true;
+    if (!strcasecmp(s.c_str(), "no")) return false;
+    if (!strcasecmp(s.c_str(), "true")) return true;
+    if (!strcasecmp(s.c_str(), "false")) return false;
+    if (s == "1") return true;
+    if (s == "0") return false;
+
+    SG_LOG(SG_GENERAL, SG_WARN, "Unable to parse string as boolean:" << s);
+    return false;
+}
+
 } // end namespace strutils
 
 } // end namespace simgear
diff --git a/simgear/misc/strutils.hxx b/simgear/misc/strutils.hxx
index 3ab3001f..3844e7f9 100644
--- a/simgear/misc/strutils.hxx
+++ b/simgear/misc/strutils.hxx
@@ -168,7 +168,14 @@ namespace simgear {
      * convert a string representing a decimal number, to an int
      */
     int to_int(const std::string& s, int base = 10);
-    
+
+
+    /**
+     * Convert a string representing a boolean, to a bool.
+     * Accepted values include YES, true, 0, 1, false, no, True,
+     */
+    bool to_bool(const std::string& s);
+
     /**
      * Like strcmp(), but for dotted versions strings NN.NN.NN
      * any number of terms are supported.