diff --git a/contrib/newcvsroot b/contrib/newcvsroot
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..4ce13526f48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/newcvsroot
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
+# Written by Roland McGrath <roland@gnu.org>
+
+# Replaces all CVS/Root and CVS/Repository files in a checked-out CVS
+# tree. Requires shell with # and % variable substitution (e.g. bash).
+
+# Usage: newcvsroot <newroot> <modulename> <toplevel directory>
+
+root=$1; shift
+module=$1; shift
+topdir=$1; shift
+
+rep=${root##*:}
+
+case "$topdir" in
+/*|./*|../*) echo >&2 "$0 wants relative path from top of checkout"; exit 1;;
+esac
+
+find $topdir \( -name Repository -o -name Root \) -print | while read f; do
+
+case "$f" in
+*/CVS/Root) echo $root > $f ;;
+*/CVS/Repository)
+  r=${module}${f#${topdir}}
+  echo > $f $rep/${r%/CVS/Repository}
+  ;;
+esac
+
+done