diff --git a/ast/term.go b/ast/term.go
index 9117da8f80..b3b61a9291 100644
--- a/ast/term.go
+++ b/ast/term.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"net/url"
 	"regexp"
 	"sort"
 	"strconv"
@@ -805,6 +806,27 @@ func EmptyRef() Ref {
 	return Ref([]*Term{})
 }
 
+// PtrRef returns a new reference against the head for the pointer
+// s. Path components in the pointer are unescaped.
+func PtrRef(head *Term, s string) (Ref, error) {
+	s = strings.Trim(s, "/")
+	if s == "" {
+		return Ref{head}, nil
+	}
+	parts := strings.Split(s, "/")
+	ref := make(Ref, len(parts)+1)
+	ref[0] = head
+	for i := 0; i < len(parts); i++ {
+		var err error
+		parts[i], err = url.PathUnescape(parts[i])
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		ref[i+1] = StringTerm(parts[i])
+	}
+	return ref, nil
+}
+
 // RefTerm creates a new Term with a Ref value.
 func RefTerm(r ...*Term) *Term {
 	return &Term{Value: Ref(r)}
@@ -967,6 +989,21 @@ func (ref Ref) IsNested() bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+// Ptr returns a slash-separated path string for this ref. If the ref
+// contains non-string terms this function returns an error. Path
+// components are escaped.
+func (ref Ref) Ptr() (string, error) {
+	parts := make([]string, 0, len(ref)-1)
+	for _, term := range ref[1:] {
+		if str, ok := term.Value.(String); ok {
+			parts = append(parts, url.PathEscape(string(str)))
+		} else {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("invalid path value type")
+		}
+	}
+	return strings.Join(parts, "/"), nil
+}
+
 var varRegexp = regexp.MustCompile("^[[:alpha:]_][[:alpha:][:digit:]_]*$")
 
 func (ref Ref) String() string {
diff --git a/ast/term_test.go b/ast/term_test.go
index 2c586a6d57..970882487f 100644
--- a/ast/term_test.go
+++ b/ast/term_test.go
@@ -419,6 +419,49 @@ func TestRefConcat(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestRefPtr(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []string{
+		"",
+		"a",
+		"a/b",
+		"/a/b",
+		"/a/b/",
+		"a%2Fb",
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		ref, err := PtrRef(DefaultRootDocument.Copy(), tc)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal("Unexpected error:", err)
+		}
+
+		ptr, err := ref.Ptr()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal("Unexpected error:", err)
+		}
+
+		roundtrip, err := PtrRef(DefaultRootDocument.Copy(), ptr)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal("Unexpected error:", err)
+		}
+
+		if !ref.Equal(roundtrip) {
+			t.Fatalf("Expected roundtrip of %q to be equal but got %v and %v", tc, ref, roundtrip)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if _, err := PtrRef(DefaultRootDocument.Copy(), "2%"); err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected error from %q", "2%")
+	}
+
+	ref := Ref{VarTerm("x"), IntNumberTerm(1)}
+
+	if _, err := ref.Ptr(); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Expected error from x[1]")
+	}
+
+}
+
 func TestSetEqual(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		a        string