diff --git a/lib/Pkgcraft/Version.pm b/lib/Pkgcraft/Version.pm
index 751fbce..bb80c82 100644
--- a/lib/Pkgcraft/Version.pm
+++ b/lib/Pkgcraft/Version.pm
@@ -60,6 +60,12 @@ package Pkgcraft::Version {
     return;
   }
 
+  sub parse {
+    my $str = shift // die "missing version string";
+    my $ptr = C::pkgcraft_version_parse($str);
+    return (defined $ptr)
+  }
+
   sub revision {
     my $self = shift;
     my $ptr = C::pkgcraft_version_revision($self->{_ptr});
diff --git a/lib/_pkgcraft_c.pm b/lib/_pkgcraft_c.pm
index bafc497..b99b2cd 100644
--- a/lib/_pkgcraft_c.pm
+++ b/lib/_pkgcraft_c.pm
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ $ffi->attach('pkgcraft_version_intersects' => ['version_t', 'version_t'] => 'boo
 $ffi->attach('pkgcraft_version_new' => ['string'] => 'version_t');
 $ffi->attach('pkgcraft_version_revision' => ['version_t'] => 'revision_t');
 $ffi->attach('pkgcraft_version_str' => ['version_t'] => 'c_str');
+$ffi->attach('pkgcraft_version_parse' => ['string'] => 'opaque');
 
 # revision support
 $ffi->attach('pkgcraft_revision_cmp' => ['revision_t', 'revision_t'] => 'int');
diff --git a/t/Pkgcraft/Version.t b/t/Pkgcraft/Version.t
index f7f2e18..607d265 100644
--- a/t/Pkgcraft/Version.t
+++ b/t/Pkgcraft/Version.t
@@ -31,6 +31,12 @@ ok(dies { Pkgcraft::Version->new("-2") });
 ok(dies { $ver == "1-r2" });
 ok(dies { Pkgcraft::Version->new(">1-r2") == ">1-r2" });
 
+# valid
+foreach my $str (@{$VERSION_DATA->{"valid"}}) {
+  ok(Pkgcraft::Version->new($str))
+  ok(Pkgcraft::Version->valid($str))
+}
+
 # version comparisons
 foreach my $str (@{$VERSION_DATA->{"compares"}}) {
   my ($s1, $op, $s2) = split ' ', $str;