diff --git a/pydu/itercompat.py b/pydu/itercompat.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9895e3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pydu/itercompat.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+def is_iterable(x):
+    "An implementation independent way of checking for iterables"
+    try:
+        iter(x)
+    except TypeError:
+        return False
+    else:
+        return True
diff --git a/tests/test_itercompat.py b/tests/test_itercompat.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ede16a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_itercompat.py
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+from pydu.itercompat import is_iterable
+
+
+def test_is_iterable():
+    assert is_iterable(list())
+    assert is_iterable(tuple())
+    assert is_iterable(dict())
+    assert is_iterable(set())
+    assert not is_iterable(1)