diff --git a/src/util/CMakeLists.txt b/src/util/CMakeLists.txt
index a49ec18..ac764bd 100644
--- a/src/util/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/util/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-add_library(linuxdeploy_util STATIC magicwrapper.cpp magicwrapper.h util.h)
+add_library(linuxdeploy_util STATIC magicwrapper.cpp magicwrapper.h util.h misc.h)
 target_include_directories(linuxdeploy_util PUBLIC ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
diff --git a/src/util/misc.h b/src/util/misc.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b0f537
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/misc.h
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <cstring>
+#include <sstream>
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
+namespace linuxdeploy {
+    namespace util {
+        namespace misc {
+            static inline bool ltrim(std::string& s, char to_trim = ' ') {
+                // TODO: find more efficient way to check whether elements have been removed
+                size_t initialLength = s.length();
+                s.erase(s.begin(), std::find_if(s.begin(), s.end(), [to_trim](int ch) {
+                    return ch != to_trim;
+                }));
+                return s.length() < initialLength;
+            }
+
+            static inline bool rtrim(std::string& s, char to_trim = ' ') {
+                // TODO: find more efficient way to check whether elements have been removed
+                auto initialLength = s.length();
+                s.erase(std::find_if(s.rbegin(), s.rend(), [to_trim](int ch) {
+                    return ch != to_trim;
+                }).base(), s.end());
+                return s.length() < initialLength;
+            }
+
+            static inline bool trim(std::string& s, char to_trim = ' ') {
+                // returns true if either modifies s
+                auto ltrim_result = ltrim(s, to_trim);
+                return rtrim(s, to_trim) && ltrim_result;
+            }
+
+            static std::vector<std::string> split(const std::string& s, char delim = ' ') {
+                std::vector<std::string> result;
+
+                std::stringstream ss(s);
+                std::string item;
+
+                while (std::getline(ss, item, delim)) {
+                    result.push_back(item);
+                }
+
+                return result;
+            }
+
+            static std::vector<std::string> splitLines(const std::string& s) {
+                return split(s, '\n');
+            }
+
+            static inline std::string strLower(std::string s) {
+                std::transform(s.begin(), s.end(), s.begin(), [](unsigned char c) { return std::tolower(c); });
+                return s;
+            }
+
+            static bool stringStartsWith(const std::string& string, const std::string& prefix) {
+                // sanity check
+                if (string.size() < prefix.size())
+                    return false;
+
+                return strncmp(string.c_str(), prefix.c_str(), prefix.size()) == 0;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/util/util.h b/src/util/util.h
index fde0c4f..787fbae 100644
--- a/src/util/util.h
+++ b/src/util/util.h
@@ -1,67 +1,10 @@
-#pragma once
-
-#include <algorithm>
-#include <cstring>
-#include <sstream>
-#include <string>
-#include <vector>
+// local includes
+#include "magicwrapper.h"
+#include "misc.h"
 
+// import functions from misc module for convenience
 namespace linuxdeploy {
-    namespace core {
-        namespace util {
-            static inline bool ltrim(std::string& s, char to_trim = ' ') {
-                // TODO: find more efficient way to check whether elements have been removed
-                size_t initialLength = s.length();
-                s.erase(s.begin(), std::find_if(s.begin(), s.end(), [to_trim](int ch) {
-                    return ch != to_trim;
-                }));
-                return s.length() < initialLength;
-            }
-
-            static inline bool rtrim(std::string& s, char to_trim = ' ') {
-                // TODO: find more efficient way to check whether elements have been removed
-                auto initialLength = s.length();
-                s.erase(std::find_if(s.rbegin(), s.rend(), [to_trim](int ch) {
-                    return ch != to_trim;
-                }).base(), s.end());
-                return s.length() < initialLength;
-            }
-
-            static inline bool trim(std::string& s, char to_trim = ' ') {
-                // returns true if either modifies s
-                auto ltrim_result = ltrim(s, to_trim);
-                return rtrim(s, to_trim) && ltrim_result;
-            }
-
-            static std::vector<std::string> split(const std::string& s, char delim = ' ') {
-                std::vector<std::string> result;
-
-                std::stringstream ss(s);
-                std::string item;
-
-                while (std::getline(ss, item, delim)) {
-                    result.push_back(item);
-                }
-
-                return result;
-            }
-
-            static std::vector<std::string> splitLines(const std::string& s) {
-                return split(s, '\n');
-            }
-
-            static inline std::string strLower(std::string s) {
-                std::transform(s.begin(), s.end(), s.begin(), [](unsigned char c) { return std::tolower(c); });
-                return s;
-            }
-
-            static bool stringStartsWith(const std::string& string, const std::string& prefix) {
-                // sanity check
-                if (string.size() < prefix.size())
-                    return false;
-
-                return strncmp(string.c_str(), prefix.c_str(), prefix.size()) == 0;
-            }
-        }
+    namespace util {
+        using namespace misc;
     }
 }