diff --git a/src/ripple/protocol/Serializer.h b/src/ripple/protocol/Serializer.h
index e1225458f..09119fc57 100644
--- a/src/ripple/protocol/Serializer.h
+++ b/src/ripple/protocol/Serializer.h
@@ -369,6 +369,9 @@ public:
     Blob
     getVL();
 
+    void
+    skip (int num);
+
     Buffer
     getVLBuffer();
 
diff --git a/src/ripple/protocol/impl/Serializer.cpp b/src/ripple/protocol/impl/Serializer.cpp
index 3d817b079..959706b8a 100644
--- a/src/ripple/protocol/impl/Serializer.cpp
+++ b/src/ripple/protocol/impl/Serializer.cpp
@@ -433,6 +433,17 @@ SerialIter::reset() noexcept
     used_ = 0;
 }
 
+void
+SerialIter::skip (int length)
+{
+    if (remain_ < length)
+        throw std::runtime_error(
+            "invalid SerialIter skip");
+    p_ += length;
+    used_ += length;
+    remain_ -= length;
+}
+
 unsigned char
 SerialIter::get8()
 {