diff --git a/lib/include/srslte/common/common.h b/lib/include/srslte/common/common.h
index 8089634b7..de9f6d5aa 100644
--- a/lib/include/srslte/common/common.h
+++ b/lib/include/srslte/common/common.h
@@ -147,6 +147,11 @@ public:
     {
       return msg-buffer;
     }
+    // Returns the remaining space from what is reported to be the length of msg
+    uint32_t get_tailroom()
+    {
+      return (sizeof(buffer) - (msg-buffer) - N_bytes);
+    }
     long get_latency_us()
     {
 #ifdef ENABLE_TIMESTAMP