diff --git a/utils.h b/utils.h
index 9f794528f..08f24172d 100644
--- a/utils.h
+++ b/utils.h
@@ -178,6 +178,12 @@
 #define TIMEVAL_MSEC_ADD(a, b, msecs) { (a).tv_sec = (b).tv_sec + ((msecs) / 1000); (a).tv_usec = (b).tv_usec + ((msecs) % 1000) * 1000; (a).tv_sec += (a).tv_usec / 1000000; (a).tv_usec %= 1000000; }
 #define TIMEVAL_ADD(a, b, usecs) { (a).tv_sec = (b).tv_sec + ((usecs) / 1000000); (a).tv_usec = (b).tv_usec + ((usecs) % 1000000); (a).tv_sec += (a).tv_usec / 1000000; (a).tv_usec %= 1000000; }
 
+/* Find our if one timeval is before or after another, avoiding the integer
+   overflow that can result when doing a TIMEVAL_SUBTRACT on two widely spaced
+   timevals. */
+#define TIMEVAL_BEFORE(a, b) (((a).tv_sec < (b).tv_sec) || ((a).tv_sec == (b).tv_sec && (a).tv_usec < (b).tv_usec))
+#define TIMEVAL_AFTER(a, b) (((a).tv_sec > (b).tv_sec) || ((a).tv_sec == (b).tv_sec && (a).tv_usec > (b).tv_usec))
+
 /* Return num if it is between min and max.  Otherwise return min or
    max (whichever is closest to num), */
 template<class T> T box(T bmin, T bmax, T bnum) {