diff --git a/src/shared/sysctl-util.c b/src/shared/sysctl-util.c
index 9be4055b376..93bdcf11bf4 100644
--- a/src/shared/sysctl-util.c
+++ b/src/shared/sysctl-util.c
@@ -60,6 +60,21 @@ int sysctl_write(const char *property, const char *value) {
         return 0;
 }
 
+int sysctl_writef(const char *property, const char *format, ...) {
+        _cleanup_free_ char *v = NULL;
+        va_list ap;
+        int r;
+
+        va_start(ap, format);
+        r = vasprintf(&v, format, ap);
+        va_end(ap);
+
+        if (r < 0)
+                return -ENOMEM;
+
+        return sysctl_write(property, v);
+}
+
 int sysctl_write_ip_property(int af, const char *ifname, const char *property, const char *value) {
         const char *p;
 
diff --git a/src/shared/sysctl-util.h b/src/shared/sysctl-util.h
index d50c6e43816..cb30a977524 100644
--- a/src/shared/sysctl-util.h
+++ b/src/shared/sysctl-util.h
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 char *sysctl_normalize(char *s);
 int sysctl_read(const char *property, char **value);
 int sysctl_write(const char *property, const char *value);
+int sysctl_writef(const char *propery, const char *format, ...) _printf_(2, 3);
 
 int sysctl_read_ip_property(int af, const char *ifname, const char *property, char **ret);
 int sysctl_write_ip_property(int af, const char *ifname, const char *property, const char *value);