diff --git a/dtc.h b/dtc.h
index 760f9e3..bb0b91b 100644
--- a/dtc.h
+++ b/dtc.h
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ typedef uint32_t cell_t;
 
 #define streq(a, b)	(strcmp((a), (b)) == 0)
 #define strneq(a, b, n)	(strncmp((a), (b), (n)) == 0)
+#define strstarts(s, prefix)	(strncmp((s), (prefix), strlen(prefix)) == 0)
 
 #define ALIGN(x, a)	(((x) + (a) - 1) & ~((a) - 1))
 
diff --git a/flattree.c b/flattree.c
index fcf7154..8d268fb 100644
--- a/flattree.c
+++ b/flattree.c
@@ -731,7 +731,7 @@ static char *nodename_from_path(const char *ppath, const char *cpath)
 
 	plen = strlen(ppath);
 
-	if (!strneq(ppath, cpath, plen))
+	if (!strstarts(cpath, ppath))
 		die("Path \"%s\" is not valid as a child of \"%s\"\n",
 		    cpath, ppath);