diff --git a/common/common.cpp b/common/common.cpp
index a3c7535d2d..96b5d665d9 100644
--- a/common/common.cpp
+++ b/common/common.cpp
@@ -112,6 +112,18 @@ wxString ExpandTextVars( const wxString& aSource,
 }
 
 
+wxString GetTextVars( const wxString& aSource )
+{
+    std::function<bool( wxString* )> tokenExtractor =
+            [&]( wxString* token ) -> bool
+            {
+                return true;
+            };
+
+    return ExpandTextVars( aSource, &tokenExtractor );
+}
+
+
 //
 // Stolen from wxExpandEnvVars and then heavily optimized
 //
diff --git a/include/common.h b/include/common.h
index d907efdbd6..5e00c9ada3 100644
--- a/include/common.h
+++ b/include/common.h
@@ -91,6 +91,11 @@ wxString ExpandTextVars( const wxString& aSource,
 
 wxString ExpandTextVars( const wxString& aSource, const PROJECT* aProject );
 
+/**
+ * Returns any variables unexpanded, e.g. ${VAR} -> VAR
+ */
+wxString GetTextVars( const wxString& aSource );
+
 /**
  * Replace any environment and/or text variables in file-path uris (leaving network-path URIs
  * alone).