diff --git a/src/wutil.cpp b/src/wutil.cpp
index 90a731e65..74b91013a 100644
--- a/src/wutil.cpp
+++ b/src/wutil.cpp
@@ -189,20 +189,19 @@ bool set_cloexec(int fd) {
     return fcntl(fd, F_SETFD, flags | FD_CLOEXEC) >= 0;
 }
 
-static int wopen_internal(const wcstring &pathname, int flags, mode_t mode, bool cloexec) {
+int open_cloexec(const std::string &cstring, int flags, mode_t mode, bool cloexec) {
     ASSERT_IS_NOT_FORKED_CHILD();
-    cstring tmp = wcs2string(pathname);
     int fd;
 
 #ifdef O_CLOEXEC
     // Prefer to use O_CLOEXEC. It has to both be defined and nonzero.
     if (cloexec) {
-        fd = open(tmp.c_str(), flags | O_CLOEXEC, mode);
+        fd = open(cstring.c_str(), flags | O_CLOEXEC, mode);
     } else {
-        fd = open(tmp.c_str(), flags, mode);
+        fd = open(cstring.c_str(), flags, mode);
     }
 #else
-    fd = open(tmp.c_str(), flags, mode);
+    fd = open(cstring.c_str(), flags, mode);
     if (fd >= 0 && !set_cloexec(fd)) {
         close(fd);
         fd = -1;
@@ -212,7 +211,8 @@ static int wopen_internal(const wcstring &pathname, int flags, mode_t mode, bool
 }
 
 int wopen_cloexec(const wcstring &pathname, int flags, mode_t mode) {
-    return wopen_internal(pathname, flags, mode, true);
+    cstring tmp = wcs2string(pathname);
+    return open_cloexec(tmp, flags, mode, true);
 }
 
 DIR *wopendir(const wcstring &name) {
@@ -815,6 +815,15 @@ file_id_t file_id_for_path(const wcstring &path) {
     return result;
 }
 
+file_id_t file_id_for_path(const std::string &path) {
+    file_id_t result = kInvalidFileID;
+    struct stat buf = {};
+    if (0 == stat(path.c_str(), &buf)) {
+        result = file_id_t::from_stat(buf);
+    }
+    return result;
+}
+
 bool file_id_t::operator==(const file_id_t &rhs) const { return this->compare_file_id(rhs) == 0; }
 
 bool file_id_t::operator!=(const file_id_t &rhs) const { return !(*this == rhs); }
diff --git a/src/wutil.h b/src/wutil.h
index 5457074bb..955ea5e21 100644
--- a/src/wutil.h
+++ b/src/wutil.h
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ bool set_cloexec(int fd);
 /// possible).
 int wopen_cloexec(const wcstring &pathname, int flags, mode_t mode = 0);
 
+/// Narrow version of wopen_cloexec.
+int open_cloexec(const std::string &cstring, int flags, mode_t mode = 0, bool cloexec = true);
+
 /// Mark an fd as nonblocking; returns errno or 0 on success.
 int make_fd_nonblocking(int fd);
 
@@ -195,6 +198,7 @@ struct hash<file_id_t> {
 
 file_id_t file_id_for_fd(int fd);
 file_id_t file_id_for_path(const wcstring &path);
+file_id_t file_id_for_path(const std::string &path);
 
 extern const file_id_t kInvalidFileID;