diff --git a/paths.hpp b/paths.hpp
index 6bffeef4..716658e7 100644
--- a/paths.hpp
+++ b/paths.hpp
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#include "concepts/named.hpp"
+
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <optional>
 
@@ -23,4 +25,30 @@ namespace cruft::paths {
     /// eg, "$TMPDIR/foo" and "%HOMEPATH%/foo"
     std::filesystem::path
     expand (std::filesystem::path const&);
+
+
+    /// Given a relative path, and a collection of candidate base paths,
+    /// return the first path that exists.
+    ///
+    /// Or, if none do, return the relative path itself (if it exists).
+    ///
+    /// Else throw a runtime_error.
+    ///
+    /// Note: there's a good chance if you're using this then it's likely
+    /// you'll run into TOCTOU errors.
+    template <cruft::concepts::named::container ContainerT>
+    std::filesystem::path
+    resolve_first (std::filesystem::path const &relative, ContainerT bases)
+    {
+        for (auto const &base: bases) {
+            auto const candidate = base / relative;
+            if (std::filesystem::exists (candidate))
+                return candidate;
+        }
+
+        if (exists (relative))
+            return relative;
+
+        throw std::runtime_error ("no path");
+    }
 }
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