diff --git a/gnu/packages/gnome.scm b/gnu/packages/gnome.scm
index d8b9acf83b..c42092d28e 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gnome.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gnome.scm
@@ -313,6 +313,38 @@ Specification, the icon naming utility maps the icon names used by the
 GNOME and KDE desktops to the icon names proposed in the specification.")
     (license license:lgpl2.1+)))
 
+(define-public desktop-file-utils
+  (package
+    (name "desktop-file-utils")
+    (version "0.22")
+    (source (origin
+              (method url-fetch)
+              (uri (string-append "http://www.freedesktop.org/software/" name
+                                  "/releases/" name "-" version ".tar.xz"))
+              (sha256
+               (base32
+                "1ianvr2a69yjv4rpyv30w7yjsmnsb23crrka5ndqxycj4rkk4dc4"))))
+    (build-system gnu-build-system)
+    (native-inputs
+     `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)))
+    (inputs
+     `(("glib" ,glib)))
+    (home-page "http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/desktop-file-utils/")
+    (synopsis "Utilities for working with desktop entries")
+    (description
+     "This package contains a few command line utilities for working with
+desktop entries:
+
+desktop-file-validate: validates a desktop file and prints warnings/errors
+                       about desktop entry specification violations.
+
+desktop-file-install: installs a desktop file to the applications directory,
+                      optionally munging it a bit in transit.
+
+update-desktop-database: updates the database containing a cache of MIME types
+                         handled by desktop files.")
+    (license license:gpl2+)))
+
 (define-public gnome-icon-theme
   (package
     (name "gnome-icon-theme")