diff --git a/libraries/stdlib/src/kotlin/Strings.kt b/libraries/stdlib/src/kotlin/Strings.kt
index 65320efde8a..422d023b5bd 100644
--- a/libraries/stdlib/src/kotlin/Strings.kt
+++ b/libraries/stdlib/src/kotlin/Strings.kt
@@ -70,10 +70,14 @@ public inline fun String.startsWith(prefix: String) : Boolean = (this as java.la
 
 public inline fun String.startsWith(prefix: String, toffset: Int) : Boolean = (this as java.lang.String).startsWith(prefix, toffset)
 
+public inline fun String.startsWith(ch: Char) : Boolean = (this as java.lang.String).startsWith(ch.toString())
+
 public inline fun String.contains(seq: CharSequence) : Boolean = (this as java.lang.String).contains(seq)
 
 public inline fun String.endsWith(suffix: String) : Boolean = (this as java.lang.String).endsWith(suffix)
 
+public inline fun String.endsWith(ch: Char) : Boolean = (this as java.lang.String).endsWith(ch.toString())
+
 inline val String.size : Int
 get() = length()
 
diff --git a/libraries/stdlib/test/StringTest.kt b/libraries/stdlib/test/StringTest.kt
index f12c7a89185..33741d058f9 100644
--- a/libraries/stdlib/test/StringTest.kt
+++ b/libraries/stdlib/test/StringTest.kt
@@ -60,4 +60,16 @@ class StringTest() : TestCase() {
         assertEquals(s, list[0])
     }
 
+    fun testStartsWithChar() {
+        assertTrue("abcd".startsWith('a'))
+        assertFalse("abcd".startsWith('b'))
+        assertFalse("".startsWith('a'))
+    }
+
+    fun testEndsWithChar() {
+        assertTrue("abcd".endsWith('d'))
+        assertFalse("abcd".endsWith('b'))
+        assertFalse("".endsWith('a'))
+    }
+
 }