diff --git a/src/core/EncodedString.h b/src/core/EncodedString.h
index f57f8f7..fe9495d 100644
--- a/src/core/EncodedString.h
+++ b/src/core/EncodedString.h
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 #include "Encoding.h"
 #include <stdint.h>
+#include <string.h>
 
 class EncodedString
 {
@@ -53,6 +54,14 @@ public:
     {
         return m_data[index];
     }
+    bool operator==(const std::string & s) const
+    {
+        return (m_size == s.size()) && (memcmp(m_data, &s[0], m_size) == 0);
+    }
+    bool operator!=(const std::string & s) const
+    {
+        return !(*this == s);
+    }
 
 protected:
     Encoding::Type m_encoding;
@@ -60,4 +69,13 @@ protected:
     size_t m_size;
 };
 
+static inline bool operator==(const std::string & ss, const EncodedString & es)
+{
+    return es == ss;
+}
+static inline bool operator!=(const std::string & ss, const EncodedString & es)
+{
+    return es != ss;
+}
+
 #endif