diff --git a/common/state/state.h b/common/state/state.h
index 7dd163c..fcc6b9f 100644
--- a/common/state/state.h
+++ b/common/state/state.h
@@ -9,6 +9,14 @@
 	STATE_FLAG_NO_AUTHENTIFICATION = (1 << 0),
 };
 
+enum state_variable_type {
+	STATE_VARIABLE_TYPE_UINT8,
+	STATE_VARIABLE_TYPE_UINT32,
+	STATE_VARIABLE_TYPE_ENUM32,
+	STATE_VARIABLE_TYPE_MAC,
+	STATE_VARIABLE_TYPE_STRING
+};
+
 /**
  * state_backend_storage_bucket - This class describes a single backend storage
  * object copy
@@ -119,6 +127,7 @@
 /* A variable type (uint32, enum32) */
 struct variable_type {
 	const char *type_name;
+	enum state_variable_type type;
 	struct list_head list;
 	int (*export) (struct state_variable *, struct device_node *,
 		       enum state_convert);
diff --git a/common/state/state_variables.c b/common/state/state_variables.c
index 688467d..de9ba4a 100644
--- a/common/state/state_variables.c
+++ b/common/state/state_variables.c
@@ -450,26 +450,31 @@
 static struct variable_type types[] = {
 	{
 		.type_name = "uint8",
+		.type = STATE_VARIABLE_TYPE_UINT8,
 		.export = state_uint32_export,
 		.import = state_uint32_import,
 		.create = state_uint8_create,
 	}, {
 		.type_name = "uint32",
+		.type = STATE_VARIABLE_TYPE_UINT32,
 		.export = state_uint32_export,
 		.import = state_uint32_import,
 		.create = state_uint32_create,
 	}, {
 		.type_name = "enum32",
+		.type = STATE_VARIABLE_TYPE_ENUM32,
 		.export = state_enum32_export,
 		.import = state_enum32_import,
 		.create = state_enum32_create,
 	}, {
 		.type_name = "mac",
+		.type = STATE_VARIABLE_TYPE_MAC,
 		.export = state_mac_export,
 		.import = state_mac_import,
 		.create = state_mac_create,
 	}, {
 		.type_name = "string",
+		.type = STATE_VARIABLE_TYPE_STRING,
 		.export = state_string_export,
 		.import = state_string_import,
 		.create = state_string_create,
@@ -489,6 +494,19 @@
 	return NULL;
 }
 
+struct variable_type *state_find_type(const enum state_variable_type type)
+{
+	int i;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(types); i++) {
+		if (type == types[i].type) {
+			return &types[i];
+		}
+	}
+
+	return NULL;
+}
+
 struct state_variable *state_find_var(struct state *state, const char *name)
 {
 	struct state_variable *sv;