diff --git a/include/qemu/reserved-region.h b/include/qemu/reserved-region.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8e6f0a97e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/qemu/reserved-region.h
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU ReservedRegion helpers
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2023 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifndef QEMU_RESERVED_REGION_H
+#define QEMU_RESERVED_REGION_H
+
+#include "exec/memory.h"
+
+/*
+ * Insert a new region into a sorted list of reserved regions. In case
+ * there is overlap with existing regions, the new added region has
+ * higher priority and replaces the overlapped segment.
+ */
+GList *resv_region_list_insert(GList *list, ReservedRegion *reg);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/util/reserved-region.c b/util/reserved-region.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bb26a6bed3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/reserved-region.c
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU ReservedRegion helpers
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2023 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#include "qemu/osdep.h"
+#include "qemu/range.h"
+#include "qemu/reserved-region.h"
+
+GList *resv_region_list_insert(GList *list, ReservedRegion *reg)
+{
+    ReservedRegion *resv_iter, *new_reg;
+    Range *r = &reg->range;
+    Range *range_iter;
+    GList *l;
+
+    for (l = list; l ; ) {
+        resv_iter = (ReservedRegion *)l->data;
+        range_iter = &resv_iter->range;
+
+        /* Skip all list elements strictly less than range to add */
+        if (range_compare(range_iter, r) < 0) {
+            l = l->next;
+        } else if (range_compare(range_iter, r) > 0) {
+            return g_list_insert_before(list, l, reg);
+        } else { /* there is an operlap */
+            if (range_contains_range(r, range_iter)) {
+                /* new range contains current item, simply remove this latter */
+                GList *prev = l->prev;
+                g_free(l->data);
+                list = g_list_delete_link(list, l);
+                if (prev) {
+                    l = prev;
+                    if (l) {
+                        l = l->next;
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    l = list;
+                }
+            } else if (range_contains_range(range_iter, r)) {
+                /* new region is included in the current region */
+                if (range_lob(range_iter) == range_lob(r)) {
+                    /* adjacent on the left side, derives into 2 regions */
+                    range_set_bounds(range_iter, range_upb(r) + 1,
+                                     range_upb(range_iter));
+                    return g_list_insert_before(list, l, reg);
+                } else if (range_upb(range_iter) == range_upb(r)) {
+                    /* adjacent on the right side, derives into 2 regions */
+                    range_set_bounds(range_iter, range_lob(range_iter),
+                                     range_lob(r) - 1);
+                    l = l->next;
+                } else {
+                    uint64_t lob = range_lob(range_iter);
+                    /*
+                     * the new range is in the middle of an existing one,
+                     * split this latter into 3 regs instead
+                     */
+                    range_set_bounds(range_iter, range_upb(r) + 1,
+                                     range_upb(range_iter));
+                    new_reg = g_new0(ReservedRegion, 1);
+                    new_reg->type = resv_iter->type;
+                    range_set_bounds(&new_reg->range,
+                                     lob, range_lob(r) - 1);
+                    list = g_list_insert_before(list, l, new_reg);
+                    return g_list_insert_before(list, l, reg);
+                }
+            } else if (range_lob(r) < range_lob(range_iter)) {
+                range_set_bounds(range_iter, range_upb(r) + 1,
+                                 range_upb(range_iter));
+                return g_list_insert_before(list, l, reg);
+            } else { /* intersection on the upper range */
+                range_set_bounds(range_iter, range_lob(range_iter),
+                                 range_lob(r) - 1);
+                l = l->next;
+            }
+        } /* overlap */
+    }
+    return g_list_append(list, reg);
+}
+
diff --git a/util/meson.build b/util/meson.build
index c4827fd70a..eb677b40c2 100644
--- a/util/meson.build
+++ b/util/meson.build
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ util_ss.add(files('qdist.c'))
 util_ss.add(files('qht.c'))
 util_ss.add(files('qsp.c'))
 util_ss.add(files('range.c'))
+util_ss.add(files('reserved-region.c'))
 util_ss.add(files('stats64.c'))
 util_ss.add(files('systemd.c'))
 util_ss.add(files('transactions.c'))
