diff --git a/pkg.c b/pkg.c
index 14adbfd..f9bfa72 100644
--- a/pkg.c
+++ b/pkg.c
@@ -142,6 +142,35 @@ pkg_compare_version(const char *a, const char *b)
 	return 1;
 }
 
+/*
+ * pkg_get_comparator(pkgdep)
+ *
+ * returns the comparator used in a depgraph dependency node as a string.
+ */
+const char *
+pkg_get_comparator(pkg_dependency_t *pkgdep)
+{
+	switch(pkgdep->compare)
+	{
+	case PKG_LESS_THAN:
+		return "<";
+	case PKG_GREATER_THAN:
+		return ">";
+	case PKG_LESS_THAN_EQUAL:
+		return "<=";
+	case PKG_GREATER_THAN_EQUAL:
+		return ">=";
+	case PKG_EQUAL:
+		return "=";
+	case PKG_NOT_EQUAL:
+		return "!=";
+	case PKG_ANY:
+		return "(any)";
+	}
+
+	return "???";
+}
+
 /*
  * pkg_verify_dependency(pkgdep)
  *
diff --git a/pkg.h b/pkg.h
index e817425..bc8cde0 100644
--- a/pkg.h
+++ b/pkg.h
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ void pkg_traverse(pkg_t *root, void (*pkg_traverse_func)(pkg_t *package, void *d
 void pkg_verify_graph(pkg_t *root, int depth);
 int pkg_compare_version(const char *a, const char *b);
 pkg_t *pkg_verify_dependency(pkg_dependency_t *pkgdep);
+const char *pkg_get_comparator(pkg_dependency_t *pkgdep);
 
 /* parse.c */
 pkg_t *parse_file(const char *path);