diff --git a/abuild.in b/abuild.in
index a5ffb79..df16440 100755
--- a/abuild.in
+++ b/abuild.in
@@ -317,6 +317,12 @@ build() {
 	:
 }
 
+# generate a simple tar.gz package of pkgdir
+targz() {
+	cd "$pkgdir" || return 1
+	tar -czf "$PKGDEST"/$pkgname-$pkgver-r$pkgrel.tar.gz *
+}
+
 get_split_func() {
 	# get the 'func' from "sub-pkg:func"
 	local func=${1##*:}