diff --git a/include/osmocom/vty/vty.h b/include/osmocom/vty/vty.h
index c13f43564..ed9f439c3 100644
--- a/include/osmocom/vty/vty.h
+++ b/include/osmocom/vty/vty.h
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
+#include <time.h>
 
 #include <osmocom/core/linuxlist.h>
 #include <osmocom/core/defs.h>
@@ -219,6 +220,7 @@ bool vty_is_active(struct vty *vty);
 int vty_out (struct vty *, const char *, ...) VTY_PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(2, 3);
 int vty_out_va(struct vty *vty, const char *format, va_list ap);
 int vty_out_newline(struct vty *);
+int vty_out_uptime(struct vty *vty, const struct timespec *starttime);
 int vty_read(struct vty *vty);
 //void vty_time_print (struct vty *, int);
 void vty_close (struct vty *);
diff --git a/src/vty/command.c b/src/vty/command.c
index bb6a66511..e5e7d152b 100644
--- a/src/vty/command.c
+++ b/src/vty/command.c
@@ -3066,18 +3066,9 @@ DEFUN(show_pid,
 DEFUN(show_uptime,
       show_uptime_cmd, "show uptime", SHOW_STR "Displays how long the program has been running\n")
 {
-	struct timespec now;
-	struct timespec uptime;
-
-	osmo_clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &now);
-	timespecsub(&now, &starttime, &uptime);
-
-	int d = uptime.tv_sec / (3600 * 24);
-	int h = uptime.tv_sec / 3600 % 24;
-	int m = uptime.tv_sec / 60 % 60;
-	int s = uptime.tv_sec % 60;
-
-	vty_out(vty, "%s has been running for %dd %dh %dm %ds%s", host.app_info->name, d, h, m, s, VTY_NEWLINE);
+	vty_out(vty, "%s has been running for ", host.app_info->name);
+	vty_out_uptime(vty, &starttime);
+	vty_out_newline(vty);
 
 	return CMD_SUCCESS;
 }
diff --git a/src/vty/vty.c b/src/vty/vty.c
index 1ad84f53a..3a549b434 100644
--- a/src/vty/vty.c
+++ b/src/vty/vty.c
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@
 #include <osmocom/vty/command.h>
 #include <osmocom/vty/buffer.h>
 #include <osmocom/core/talloc.h>
+#include <osmocom/core/timer.h>
 #include <osmocom/core/utils.h>
 
 #ifndef MAXPATHLEN
@@ -338,6 +339,25 @@ int vty_out_newline(struct vty *vty)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/*! calculates the time difference of a give timespec to the current time
+ *  and prints in a human readable format (days, hours, minutes, seconds).
+ */
+int vty_out_uptime(struct vty *vty, const struct timespec *starttime)
+{
+	struct timespec now;
+	struct timespec uptime;
+
+	osmo_clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &now);
+	timespecsub(&now, starttime, &uptime);
+
+	int d = uptime.tv_sec / (3600 * 24);
+	int h = uptime.tv_sec / 3600 % 24;
+	int m = uptime.tv_sec / 60 % 60;
+	int s = uptime.tv_sec % 60;
+
+	return vty_out(vty, "%dd %dh %dm %ds", d, h, m, s);
+}
+
 /*! return the current index of a given VTY */
 void *vty_current_index(struct vty *vty)
 {