diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7efd9b907..1abb1c8b7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -451,9 +451,6 @@ Makefile.in
 /python/actions.h
 /python/bindtests.py
 /python/build
-/python/c-ctype.h
-/python/cleanups.c
-/python/cleanups.h
 /python/config.h
 /python/dist
 /python/examples/guestfs-python.3
@@ -461,17 +458,15 @@ Makefile.in
 /python/guestfs.py
 /python/guestfs.pyc
 /python/guestfs.pyo
-/python/guestfs-internal-all.h
-/python/guestfs-utils.h
-/python/ignore-value.h
+/python/guestfs-stringlists-utils.h
 /python/MANIFEST
 /python/module.c
+/python/stringlists-utils.c
 /python/structs.c
 /python/__pycache__
 /python/setup.py
 /python/stamp-extra-files
 /python/t/tests_helper.py
-/python/utils.c
 /rescue/stamp-virt-rescue.pod
 /rescue/virt-rescue
 /rescue/virt-rescue.1
diff --git a/common b/common
index 4c57e0b76..9c247a10e 160000
--- a/common
+++ b/common
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 4c57e0b7693e0617f50ece734e8a1afc626c8304
+Subproject commit 9c247a10e6faba8f1774361aff10815ffcb6d800
diff --git a/generator/python.ml b/generator/python.ml
index e436f4bda..821c66755 100644
--- a/generator/python.ml
+++ b/generator/python.ml
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ let rec generate_python_actions_h () =
 #define GUESTFS_PYTHON_ACTIONS_H_
 
 #include \"guestfs.h\"
-#include \"guestfs-utils.h\"
+#include \"guestfs-stringlists-utils.h\"
 
 #define PY_SSIZE_T_CLEAN 1
 
diff --git a/ocaml/Makefile.am b/ocaml/Makefile.am
index b31e8fc65..c85efee64 100644
--- a/ocaml/Makefile.am
+++ b/ocaml/Makefile.am
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ libguestfsocaml_a_SOURCES = \
 	guestfs-c-actions.c \
 	guestfs-c-errnos.c \
 	../common/utils/cleanups.c \
-	../common/utils/utils.c
+	../common/utils/stringlists-utils.c
 
 if HAVE_OCAMLDOC
 
diff --git a/python/MANIFEST.in b/python/MANIFEST.in
index 9de894c3c..979f99233 100644
--- a/python/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/python/MANIFEST.in
@@ -16,9 +16,5 @@
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 
 include actions.h
-include c-ctype.h
-include cleanups.h
 include config.h
-include guestfs-internal-all.h
-include guestfs-utils.h
-include ignore-value.h
+include guestfs-stringlists-utils.h
diff --git a/python/Makefile.am b/python/Makefile.am
index c2f57a6ba..b470d2df2 100644
--- a/python/Makefile.am
+++ b/python/Makefile.am
@@ -63,7 +63,8 @@ libguestfsmod_la_SOURCES = \
 	actions.h \
 	handle.c \
 	module.c \
-	structs.c
+	structs.c \
+	../common/utils/stringlists-utils.c
 
 libguestfsmod_la_CPPFLAGS = \
 	-DGUESTFS_PRIVATE=1 \
@@ -75,7 +76,6 @@ libguestfsmod_la_CFLAGS = \
 	$(WARN_CFLAGS) $(WERROR_CFLAGS)
 
 libguestfsmod_la_LIBADD = \
-	$(top_builddir)/common/utils/libutils_la-utils.lo \
 	$(top_builddir)/lib/libguestfs.la
 
 libguestfsmod_la_LDFLAGS = -avoid-version -shared -module -shrext $(PYTHON_EXT_SUFFIX)
@@ -97,39 +97,19 @@ setup-install: setup.py stamp-extra-files
 # Python's crappy MANIFEST file cannot graft single files, so we have
 # to hard-link any extra files we need into the local directory.
 stamp-extra-files: \
-	  c-ctype.h \
-	  cleanups.c \
-	  cleanups.h \
 	  config.h \
-	  guestfs-internal-all.h \
-	  guestfs-utils.h \
-	  ignore-value.h \
-	  utils.c
+	  guestfs-stringlists-utils.h \
+	  stringlists-utils.c
 	touch $@
 
 config.h:
 	ln ../config.h $@
 
-c-ctype.h:
-	ln $(top_srcdir)/gnulib/lib/c-ctype.h $@
+guestfs-stringlists-utils.h:
+	ln $(top_srcdir)/common/utils/guestfs-stringlists-utils.h $@
 
-cleanups.c:
-	ln $(top_srcdir)/common/utils/cleanups.c $@
-
-cleanups.h:
-	ln $(top_srcdir)/common/utils/cleanups.h $@
-
-ignore-value.h:
-	ln $(top_srcdir)/gnulib/lib/ignore-value.h $@
-
-guestfs-internal-all.h:
-	ln $(top_srcdir)/lib/guestfs-internal-all.h $@
-
-guestfs-utils.h:
-	ln $(top_srcdir)/common/utils/guestfs-utils.h $@
-
-utils.c:
-	ln $(top_srcdir)/common/utils/utils.c $@
+stringlists-utils.c:
+	ln $(top_srcdir)/common/utils/stringlists-utils.c $@
 
 # Tests.
 
@@ -148,15 +128,10 @@ CLEANFILES += \
 	*.pyc \
 	examples/*~ examples/*.pyc \
 	t/*~ t/*.pyc \
-	c-ctype.h \
 	config.h \
-	cleanups.c \
-	cleanups.h \
-	guestfs-internal-all.h \
-	guestfs-utils.h \
-	ignore-value.h \
+	guestfs-stringlists-utils.h \
 	stamp-extra-files \
-	utils.c
+	stringlists-utils.c
 
 clean-local:
 	rm -rf build dist __pycache__ t/__pycache__
diff --git a/python/setup.py.in b/python/setup.py.in
index 079920d0e..0c8cff13b 100644
--- a/python/setup.py.in
+++ b/python/setup.py.in
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ This package contains the Python bindings for libguestfs.
                'handle.c',
                'module.c',
                'structs.c',
-               'utils.c'],
+               'stringlists-utils.c'],
 
               include_dirs=['.', '../lib'],
               libraries=['guestfs'],