diff --git a/include/tree_sitter/runtime.h b/include/tree_sitter/runtime.h
index 361bbbef..3c50c3f2 100644
--- a/include/tree_sitter/runtime.h
+++ b/include/tree_sitter/runtime.h
@@ -142,6 +142,7 @@ TSNode ts_tree_cursor_current_node(const TSTreeCursor *);
 
 uint32_t ts_language_symbol_count(const TSLanguage *);
 const char *ts_language_symbol_name(const TSLanguage *, TSSymbol);
+TSSymbol ts_language_symbol_for_name(const TSLanguage *, const char *);
 TSSymbolType ts_language_symbol_type(const TSLanguage *, TSSymbol);
 uint32_t ts_language_version(const TSLanguage *);
 
diff --git a/src/runtime/language.c b/src/runtime/language.c
index 75e7da8b..c8e0bfc1 100644
--- a/src/runtime/language.c
+++ b/src/runtime/language.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "runtime/language.h"
 #include "runtime/subtree.h"
 #include "runtime/error_costs.h"
+#include <string.h>
 
 void ts_language_table_entry(const TSLanguage *self, TSStateId state,
                              TSSymbol symbol, TableEntry *result) {
@@ -46,6 +47,15 @@ const char *ts_language_symbol_name(const TSLanguage *language, TSSymbol symbol)
   }
 }
 
+TSSymbol ts_language_symbol_for_name(const TSLanguage *self, const char *name) {
+  for (TSSymbol i = 0; i < self->symbol_count; i++) {
+    if (!strcmp(self->symbol_names[i], name)) {
+      return i;
+    }
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
+
 TSSymbolType ts_language_symbol_type(const TSLanguage *language, TSSymbol symbol) {
   TSSymbolMetadata metadata = ts_language_symbol_metadata(language, symbol);
   if (metadata.named) {