diff --git a/snap/naming/componentref.go b/snap/naming/componentref.go
index e6e1cdf054c4..1d00eb59df7f 100644
--- a/snap/naming/componentref.go
+++ b/snap/naming/componentref.go
@@ -35,6 +35,17 @@ func NewComponentRef(snapName, componentName string) ComponentRef {
 	return ComponentRef{SnapName: snapName, ComponentName: componentName}
 }
 
+// ParseComponentRef parses a string in the form <snap>+<comp> into a
+// ComponentRef.
+func ParseComponentRef(s string) (ComponentRef, error) {
+	snapName, componentName, err := SplitFullComponentName(s)
+	if err != nil {
+		return ComponentRef{}, err
+	}
+
+	return ComponentRef{SnapName: snapName, ComponentName: componentName}, nil
+}
+
 // SplitFullComponentName splits <snap>+<comp> in <snap> and <comp> strings.
 func SplitFullComponentName(fullComp string) (string, string, error) {
 	names := strings.Split(fullComp, "+")
diff --git a/snap/naming/componentref_test.go b/snap/naming/componentref_test.go
index d0043b5d2f93..7d67a7c4304b 100644
--- a/snap/naming/componentref_test.go
+++ b/snap/naming/componentref_test.go
@@ -85,3 +85,13 @@ func (s *componentRefSuite) TestSplitFullComponentNameErr(c *C) {
 		c.Check(comp, Equals, "")
 	}
 }
+
+func (s *componentRefSuite) TestParseComponentRef(c *C) {
+	cr, err := naming.ParseComponentRef("foo+bar")
+	c.Check(err, IsNil)
+	c.Check(cr.SnapName, Equals, "foo")
+	c.Check(cr.ComponentName, Equals, "bar")
+
+	cr, err = naming.ParseComponentRef("foo+bar+")
+	c.Assert(err, ErrorMatches, `.*incorrect component name "foo\+bar\+"`)
+}