diff --git a/src/lib/eina/eina_inline_value_util.x b/src/lib/eina/eina_inline_value_util.x
index 3beca713fb..010465545f 100644
--- a/src/lib/eina/eina_inline_value_util.x
+++ b/src/lib/eina/eina_inline_value_util.x
@@ -994,6 +994,22 @@ eina_value_dup(const Eina_Value *val)
    return v;
 }
 
+/**
+ * @brief Return a reference to #Eina_Value containing a copy of the passed parameter
+ * @param val The value to use
+ * @return The #Eina_Value
+ * @since 1.21
+ */
+static inline Eina_Value
+eina_value_reference_copy(const Eina_Value *val)
+{
+   Eina_Value v = EINA_VALUE_EMPTY;
+
+   eina_value_setup(&v, eina_value_type_get(val));
+   eina_value_copy(val, &v);
+   return v;
+}
+
 /**
  * @brief Copy the stringshare in the passed #Eina_Value
  * @param val The value to copy