diff --git a/include/qpdf/ObjectHandle.hh b/include/qpdf/ObjectHandle.hh
index eb424ab..3e8f84d 100644
--- a/include/qpdf/ObjectHandle.hh
+++ b/include/qpdf/ObjectHandle.hh
@@ -130,6 +130,8 @@ namespace qpdf
         inline void assign(qpdf_object_type_e required, BaseHandle const& other);
         inline void assign(qpdf_object_type_e required, BaseHandle&& other);
 
+        inline void nullify();
+
         std::string description() const;
 
         void no_ci_warn_if(bool condition, std::string const& warning) const;
diff --git a/libqpdf/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle_private.hh b/libqpdf/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle_private.hh
index 834b09c..3f32915 100644
--- a/libqpdf/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle_private.hh
+++ b/libqpdf/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle_private.hh
@@ -812,6 +812,14 @@ namespace qpdf
         return !obj || type_code() == ::ot_null;
     }
 
+    inline void
+    BaseHandle::nullify()
+    {
+        if (obj) {
+            obj = QPDFObject::create<QPDF_Null>();
+        }
+    }
+
     inline qpdf_offset_t
     BaseHandle::offset() const
     {