diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 4694dee..336ea86 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 		- xmpp_conn_is_connecting()
 		- xmpp_conn_is_connected()
 		- xmpp_conn_is_disconnected()
+		- xmpp_stanza_new_from_string()
 		- xmpp_stanza_add_child_ex()
 		- xmpp_stanza_get_context()
 		- xmpp_global_timed_handler_add()
diff --git a/src/stanza.c b/src/stanza.c
index 1879037..c3c8d77 100644
--- a/src/stanza.c
+++ b/src/stanza.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "strophe.h"
 #include "common.h"
 #include "hash.h"
+#include "parser.h"
 
 /** Create a stanza object.
  *  This function allocates and initializes a blank stanza object.
@@ -1461,3 +1462,59 @@ xmpp_stanza_t *xmpp_error_new(xmpp_ctx_t *ctx,
 
     return error;
 }
+
+static void _stub_stream_start(char *name, char **attrs, void *userdata)
+{
+    UNUSED(name);
+    UNUSED(attrs);
+    UNUSED(userdata);
+}
+
+static void _stub_stream_end(char *name, void *userdata)
+{
+    UNUSED(name);
+    UNUSED(userdata);
+}
+
+static void _stream_stanza(xmpp_stanza_t *stanza, void *userdata)
+{
+    stanza = xmpp_stanza_clone(stanza);
+    *(xmpp_stanza_t **)userdata = stanza;
+}
+
+/** Create a stanza object from the string.
+ *  This function allocates and initializes a stanza object which represents
+ *  stanza located in the string.
+ *  The stanza will have a reference count of one, so the caller does not
+ *  need to clone it.
+ *
+ *  @param ctx a Strophe context object
+ *  @param str stanza in NULL terminated string representation
+ *
+ *  @return a stanza object or NULL on an error
+ *
+ *  @ingroup Stanza
+ */
+xmpp_stanza_t *xmpp_stanza_new_from_string(xmpp_ctx_t *ctx, const char *str)
+{
+    xmpp_stanza_t *stanza = NULL;
+    parser_t *parser;
+    int ret;
+
+    static const char *start = "<stream>";
+    static const char *end = "</stream>";
+
+    parser = parser_new(ctx, _stub_stream_start, _stub_stream_end,
+                        _stream_stanza, &stanza);
+    if (parser) {
+        ret = parser_feed(parser, (char *)start, strlen(start)) &&
+              parser_feed(parser, (char *)str, strlen(str)) &&
+              parser_feed(parser, (char *)end, strlen(end));
+        parser_free(parser);
+        if (!ret && stanza) {
+            xmpp_stanza_release(stanza);
+            stanza = NULL;
+        }
+    }
+    return stanza;
+}
diff --git a/strophe.h b/strophe.h
index 19898bb..aa448ed 100644
--- a/strophe.h
+++ b/strophe.h
@@ -330,6 +330,7 @@ void xmpp_register_stanza_handler(conn, stanza, xmlns, type, handler)
 
 /* allocate and initialize a blank stanza */
 xmpp_stanza_t *xmpp_stanza_new(xmpp_ctx_t *ctx);
+xmpp_stanza_t *xmpp_stanza_new_from_string(xmpp_ctx_t *ctx, const char *str);
 
 /* clone a stanza */
 xmpp_stanza_t *xmpp_stanza_clone(xmpp_stanza_t *const stanza);
diff --git a/tests/test_stanza.c b/tests/test_stanza.c
index 8b522de..0b28c5f 100644
--- a/tests/test_stanza.c
+++ b/tests/test_stanza.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
 
 #define MAGICPTR ((void *)0xfeedbeef)
 static unsigned long used_blocks = 0;
@@ -31,7 +32,10 @@ static void stanza_free(void *ptr, void *userdata)
 {
     assert(userdata == MAGICPTR);
 
-    --used_blocks;
+    if (ptr != NULL) {
+        assert(used_blocks > 0);
+        --used_blocks;
+    }
     free(ptr);
 }
 
@@ -39,6 +43,14 @@ static void *stanza_realloc(void *ptr, size_t size, void *userdata)
 {
     assert(userdata == MAGICPTR);
 
+    if (ptr != NULL && size == 0) {
+        /* equivalent to free(ptr) */
+        assert(used_blocks > 0);
+        --used_blocks;
+    } else if (ptr == NULL) {
+        /* equivalent to malloc(size) */
+        ++used_blocks;
+    }
     return realloc(ptr, size);
 }
 
@@ -78,6 +90,28 @@ static void test_stanza_add_child(xmpp_ctx_t *ctx)
     assert(used_blocks == baseline);
 }
 
+static void test_stanza_from_string(xmpp_ctx_t *ctx)
+{
+    xmpp_stanza_t *stanza;
+    char *buf;
+    size_t buflen;
+    int ret;
+
+    static const char *str =
+        "<signcrypt xmlns=\"urn:xmpp:openpgp:0\"><to "
+        "jid=\"user@domain.com\"/><time "
+        "stamp=\"2020-06-03T21:26:24+0200\"/><rpad/><payload><body "
+        "xmlns=\"jabber:client\">Hello World!</body></payload></signcrypt>";
+
+    stanza = xmpp_stanza_new_from_string(ctx, str);
+    assert(stanza != NULL);
+    ret = xmpp_stanza_to_text(stanza, &buf, &buflen);
+    assert(ret == XMPP_EOK);
+    assert(strcmp(buf, str) == 0);
+    xmpp_free(ctx, buf);
+    xmpp_stanza_release(stanza);
+}
+
 int main()
 {
     xmpp_ctx_t *ctx;
@@ -87,6 +121,7 @@ int main()
     assert(ctx != NULL);
 
     test_stanza_add_child(ctx);
+    test_stanza_from_string(ctx);
 
     xmpp_ctx_free(ctx);
     xmpp_shutdown();