diff --git a/lib/util/charset_compat.h b/lib/util/charset_compat.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cb3b6252a3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/util/charset_compat.h
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#ifndef _SAMBA_CHARSET_COMPAT_H_
+#define _SAMBA_CHARSET_COMPAT_H_
+
+#include <string.h>
+
+#define strchr_m(h, n) strchr(h, n)
+#define strstr_m(h, n) strstr(h, n)
+
+#endif /* _SAMBA_CHARSET_COMPAT_H_ */
diff --git a/lib/util/samba_util.h b/lib/util/samba_util.h
index 2578af80f69..41b3fc8ecda 100644
--- a/lib/util/samba_util.h
+++ b/lib/util/samba_util.h
@@ -21,7 +21,12 @@
 #ifndef _SAMBA_UTIL_H_
 #define _SAMBA_UTIL_H_
 
+#ifndef SAMBA_UTIL_CORE_ONLY
 #include "lib/util/charset/charset.h"
+#else
+#include "charset_compat.h"
+#endif
+
 #include "lib/util/attr.h"
 
 /* for TALLOC_CTX */
diff --git a/lib/util/substitute.c b/lib/util/substitute.c
index 70cc441a321..49adeaf178a 100644
--- a/lib/util/substitute.c
+++ b/lib/util/substitute.c
@@ -23,7 +23,11 @@
 
 #include "replace.h"
 #include "debug.h"
+#ifndef SAMBA_UTIL_CORE_ONLY
 #include "charset/charset.h"
+#else
+#include "charset_compat.h"
+#endif
 #include "substitute.h"
 
 /**
diff --git a/lib/util/wscript_build b/lib/util/wscript_build
index d3865d8c033..cd23231f3cc 100755
--- a/lib/util/wscript_build
+++ b/lib/util/wscript_build
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ bld.SAMBA_SUBSYSTEM('samba-util-core',
 
 if not bld.env.SAMBA_UTIL_CORE_ONLY:
 
+    bld.env.public_headers_skip.append('charset_compat.h')
+
     bld.SAMBA_LIBRARY('samba-util',
                   source='''talloc_stack.c smb_threads.c
                     rbtree.c rfc1738.c become_daemon.c system.c select.c getpass.c