diff --git a/include/crm/common/cib.h b/include/crm/common/cib.h
index a8658cc8d5..1b0abf2a4c 100644
--- a/include/crm/common/cib.h
+++ b/include/crm/common/cib.h
@@ -1,24 +1,27 @@
 /*
  * Copyright 2021 the Pacemaker project contributors
  *
  * The version control history for this file may have further details.
  *
  * This source code is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License
  * version 2.1 or later (LGPLv2.1+) WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY.
  */
 
 #ifndef PCMK__COMMON_CIB__H
 #  define PCMK__COMMON_CIB__H
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
+#include <libxml/tree.h>    // xmlNode
+
 const char *pcmk_cib_xpath_for(const char *element_name);
 const char *pcmk_cib_parent_name_for(const char *element_name);
+xmlNode *pcmk_find_cib_element(xmlNode *cib, const char *element_name);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
 
 #endif // PCMK__COMMON_CIB__H
diff --git a/lib/common/cib.c b/lib/common/cib.c
index 042fcd5253..74d486d3cd 100644
--- a/lib/common/cib.c
+++ b/lib/common/cib.c
@@ -1,143 +1,159 @@
 /*
  * Original copyright 2004 International Business Machines
  * Later changes copyright 2008-2021 the Pacemaker project contributors
  *
  * The version control history for this file may have further details.
  *
  * This source code is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License
  * version 2.1 or later (LGPLv2.1+) WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY.
  */
 
 #include <crm_internal.h>
 
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <libxml/tree.h>    // xmlNode
 
 #include <crm/msg_xml.h>
 
 /*
  * Functions to help find particular sections of the CIB
  */
 
 // Map CIB element names to their parent elements and XPath searches
 static struct {
     const char *name;   // Name of this CIB element
     const char *parent; // CIB element that this element is a child of
     const char *path;   // XPath to find this CIB element
 } cib_sections[] = {
     {
         NULL,
         NULL,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB
     },
     {
         XML_TAG_CIB,
         NULL,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB
     },
     {
         XML_CIB_TAG_STATUS,
         "/" XML_TAG_CIB,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_STATUS
     },
     {
         XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION,
         "/" XML_TAG_CIB,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION
     },
     {
         XML_CIB_TAG_CRMCONFIG,
         "/" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CRMCONFIG
     },
     {
         XML_CIB_TAG_NODES,
         "/" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION "/" XML_CIB_TAG_NODES
     },
     {
         XML_CIB_TAG_RESOURCES,
         "/" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION "/" XML_CIB_TAG_RESOURCES
     },
     {
         XML_CIB_TAG_CONSTRAINTS,
         "/" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONSTRAINTS
     },
     {
         XML_CIB_TAG_OPCONFIG,
         "/" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION "/" XML_CIB_TAG_OPCONFIG
     },
     {
         XML_CIB_TAG_RSCCONFIG,
         "/" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION "/" XML_CIB_TAG_RSCCONFIG
     },
     {
         XML_CIB_TAG_ACLS,
         "/" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION "/" XML_CIB_TAG_ACLS
     },
     {
         XML_TAG_FENCING_TOPOLOGY,
         "/" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION "/" XML_TAG_FENCING_TOPOLOGY
     },
     {
         XML_CIB_TAG_TAGS,
         "/" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION "/" XML_CIB_TAG_TAGS
     },
     {
         XML_CIB_TAG_ALERTS,
         "/" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB "/" XML_CIB_TAG_CONFIGURATION "/" XML_CIB_TAG_ALERTS
     },
     {
         XML_CIB_TAG_SECTION_ALL,
         NULL,
         "//" XML_TAG_CIB
     },
 };
 
 /*!
  * \brief Get the XPath needed to find a specified CIB element name
  *
  * \param[in] element_name  Name of CIB element
  *
  * \return XPath for finding \p element_name in CIB XML (or NULL if unknown)
  * \note The return value is constant and should not be freed.
  */
 const char *
 pcmk_cib_xpath_for(const char *element_name)
 {
     for (int lpc = 0; lpc < PCMK__NELEM(cib_sections); lpc++) {
         if (((element_name == NULL) && (cib_sections[lpc].name == NULL))
             || pcmk__str_eq(element_name, cib_sections[lpc].name,
                             pcmk__str_none)) {
             return cib_sections[lpc].path;
         }
     }
     return NULL;
 }
 
 /*!
  * \brief Get the parent element name of a given CIB element name
  *
  * \param[in] element_name  Name of CIB element
  *
  * \return Parent element of \p element_name (or NULL if unknown)
  * \note The return value is constant and should not be freed.
  */
 const char *
 pcmk_cib_parent_name_for(const char *element_name)
 {
     for (int lpc = 0; lpc < PCMK__NELEM(cib_sections); lpc++) {
         if (pcmk__str_eq(element_name, cib_sections[lpc].name,
                          pcmk__str_none)) {
             return cib_sections[lpc].parent;
         }
     }
     return NULL;
 }
+
+/*!
+ * \brief Find an element in the CIB
+ *
+ * \param[in] cib           Top-level CIB XML to search
+ * \param[in] element_name  Name of CIB element to search for
+ *
+ * \return XML element in \p cib corresponding to \p element_name
+ *         (or \p cib itself if element is unknown or not found)
+ */
+xmlNode *
+pcmk_find_cib_element(xmlNode *cib, const char *element_name)
+{
+    return get_xpath_object(pcmk_cib_xpath_for(element_name), cib, LOG_TRACE);
+}