diff --git a/src/common/common.c b/src/common/common.c
index e658455c5..ca19c7ccb 100644
--- a/src/common/common.c
+++ b/src/common/common.c
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <pthread.h>
+#include <stdarg.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
 
 #include "common.h"
 
@@ -47,6 +49,14 @@ int spd_pthread_create(pthread_t *thread, const pthread_attr_t *attr,
 	return ret;
 }
 
+/* weak version, replaced by module_utils' version when that is used */
+void __attribute__ ((weak)) MSG(int level, const char *format, ...) {
+	va_list ap;
+	va_start(ap, format);
+	vfprintf(stderr, format, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+}
+
 void set_speaking_thread_parameters(void)
 {
 	pthread_setcancelstate(PTHREAD_CANCEL_ENABLE, NULL);