diff --git a/qmake/doc/src/qmake-manual.qdoc b/qmake/doc/src/qmake-manual.qdoc
index 4e69fd9897..c22bce3e3e 100644
--- a/qmake/doc/src/qmake-manual.qdoc
+++ b/qmake/doc/src/qmake-manual.qdoc
@@ -3042,10 +3042,13 @@
 
     See also \l{system_quote(arg)}{system_quote()}.
 
+    \target fn_size
     \section2 size(variablename)
 
     Returns the number of values of \c variablename.
 
+    See also \l{str_size()}.
+
     \section2 sort_depends(variablename, prefix)
 
     This is an internal function that you will typically not need.
@@ -3059,6 +3062,13 @@
 
     \snippet code/doc_src_qmake-manual.pro 168
 
+    \target str_size()
+    \section2 str_size(arg)
+
+    Returns the number of characters in the argument.
+
+    See also \l{fn_size}{size()}.
+
     \section2 system(command[, mode])
 
     You can use this variant of the \c system function to obtain stdout from the
diff --git a/qmake/library/qmakebuiltins.cpp b/qmake/library/qmakebuiltins.cpp
index 9e9ebf8cc4..d21bae3060 100644
--- a/qmake/library/qmakebuiltins.cpp
+++ b/qmake/library/qmakebuiltins.cpp
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ QT_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
 #define fL1S(s) QString::fromLatin1(s)
 
 enum ExpandFunc {
-    E_INVALID = 0, E_MEMBER, E_FIRST, E_TAKE_FIRST, E_LAST, E_TAKE_LAST, E_SIZE,
-    E_CAT, E_FROMFILE, E_EVAL, E_LIST, E_SPRINTF, E_FORMAT_NUMBER,
+    E_INVALID = 0, E_MEMBER, E_FIRST, E_TAKE_FIRST, E_LAST, E_TAKE_LAST,
+    E_SIZE, E_STR_SIZE, E_CAT, E_FROMFILE, E_EVAL, E_LIST, E_SPRINTF, E_FORMAT_NUMBER,
     E_NUM_ADD, E_JOIN, E_SPLIT, E_BASENAME, E_DIRNAME, E_SECTION,
     E_FIND, E_SYSTEM, E_UNIQUE, E_REVERSE, E_QUOTE, E_ESCAPE_EXPAND,
     E_UPPER, E_LOWER, E_TITLE, E_FILES, E_PROMPT, E_RE_ESCAPE, E_VAL_ESCAPE,
@@ -110,6 +110,7 @@ void QMakeEvaluator::initFunctionStatics()
         { "last", E_LAST },
         { "take_last", E_TAKE_LAST },
         { "size", E_SIZE },
+        { "str_size", E_STR_SIZE },
         { "cat", E_CAT },
         { "fromfile", E_FROMFILE },
         { "eval", E_EVAL },
@@ -737,6 +738,12 @@ ProStringList QMakeEvaluator::evaluateBuiltinExpand(
         else
             ret.append(ProString(QString::number(values(map(args.at(0))).size())));
         break;
+    case E_STR_SIZE:
+        if (args.count() != 1)
+            evalError(fL1S("str_size(str) requires one argument."));
+        else
+            ret.append(ProString(QString::number(args.at(0).size())));
+        break;
     case E_CAT:
         if (args.count() < 1 || args.count() > 2) {
             evalError(fL1S("cat(file, singleline=true) requires one or two arguments."));
diff --git a/tests/auto/tools/qmakelib/evaltest.cpp b/tests/auto/tools/qmakelib/evaltest.cpp
index a516f91070..f12b11261a 100644
--- a/tests/auto/tools/qmakelib/evaltest.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/tools/qmakelib/evaltest.cpp
@@ -826,6 +826,18 @@ void tst_qmakelib::addReplaceFunctions(const QString &qindir)
             << "##:1: size(var) requires one argument."
             << true;
 
+    QTest::newRow("$$str_size()")
+            << "VAR = $$str_size(one two three)"
+            << "VAR = 13"
+            << ""
+            << true;
+
+    QTest::newRow("$$str_size(): bad number of arguments")
+            << "VAR = $$str_size(1, 2)"
+            << "VAR ="
+            << "##:1: str_size(str) requires one argument."
+            << true;
+
     QTest::newRow("$$fromfile(): right var")
             << "VAR = $$fromfile(" + qindir + "/fromfile/infile.prx, DEFINES)"
             << "VAR = QT_DLL"