diff --git a/include/qpdf/ObjectHandle.hh b/include/qpdf/ObjectHandle.hh
index c7ce939..38073c4 100644
--- a/include/qpdf/ObjectHandle.hh
+++ b/include/qpdf/ObjectHandle.hh
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ namespace qpdf
 
         // The rest of the header file is for qpdf internal use only.
 
+        inline bool null() const;
         inline qpdf_object_type_e type_code() const;
 
       protected:
diff --git a/libqpdf/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle_private.hh b/libqpdf/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle_private.hh
index f4b99ac..3f9dc3a 100644
--- a/libqpdf/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle_private.hh
+++ b/libqpdf/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle_private.hh
@@ -325,6 +325,12 @@ namespace qpdf
         return nullptr;
     }
 
+    inline bool
+    BaseHandle::null() const
+    {
+        return !obj || obj->getResolvedTypeCode() == ::ot_null;
+    }
+
     inline qpdf_object_type_e
     BaseHandle::type_code() const
     {