diff --git a/src/dbus-common.c b/src/dbus-common.c
index 936616b..adb0a7a 100644
--- a/src/dbus-common.c
+++ b/src/dbus-common.c
@@ -83,8 +83,8 @@ static void append_array_variant(DBusMessageIter *iter, int type, void *val,
 	dbus_message_iter_close_container(iter, &variant);
 }
 
-void dict_append_entry(DBusMessageIter *dict,
-			const char *key, int type, void *val)
+void dict_append_basic(DBusMessageIter *dict, int key_type, const void *key,
+						int type, void *val)
 {
 	DBusMessageIter entry;
 
@@ -97,28 +97,43 @@ void dict_append_entry(DBusMessageIter *dict,
 	dbus_message_iter_open_container(dict, DBUS_TYPE_DICT_ENTRY,
 							NULL, &entry);
 
-	dbus_message_iter_append_basic(&entry, DBUS_TYPE_STRING, &key);
+	dbus_message_iter_append_basic(&entry, key_type, key);
 
 	append_variant(&entry, type, val);
 
 	dbus_message_iter_close_container(dict, &entry);
+
 }
 
-void dict_append_array(DBusMessageIter *dict, const char *key, int type,
-			void *val, int n_elements)
+void dict_append_entry(DBusMessageIter *dict,
+			const char *key, int type, void *val)
+{
+	dict_append_basic(dict, DBUS_TYPE_STRING, &key, type, val);
+}
+
+void dict_append_basic_array(DBusMessageIter *dict, int key_type,
+					const void *key, int type, void *val,
+					int n_elements)
 {
 	DBusMessageIter entry;
 
 	dbus_message_iter_open_container(dict, DBUS_TYPE_DICT_ENTRY,
 						NULL, &entry);
 
-	dbus_message_iter_append_basic(&entry, DBUS_TYPE_STRING, &key);
+	dbus_message_iter_append_basic(&entry, key_type, key);
 
 	append_array_variant(&entry, type, val, n_elements);
 
 	dbus_message_iter_close_container(dict, &entry);
 }
 
+void dict_append_array(DBusMessageIter *dict, const char *key, int type,
+			void *val, int n_elements)
+{
+	dict_append_basic_array(dict, DBUS_TYPE_STRING, &key, type, val,
+								n_elements);
+}
+
 void set_dbus_connection(DBusConnection *conn)
 {
 	connection = conn;
diff --git a/src/dbus-common.h b/src/dbus-common.h
index f331b2f..2e7d51e 100644
--- a/src/dbus-common.h
+++ b/src/dbus-common.h
@@ -21,9 +21,14 @@
  *
  */
 
+void dict_append_basic(DBusMessageIter *dict, int key_type, const void *key,
+						int type, void *val);
 void dict_append_entry(DBusMessageIter *dict,
 			const char *key, int type, void *val);
 
+void dict_append_basic_array(DBusMessageIter *dict, int key_type,
+					const void *key, int type, void *val,
+					int n_elements);
 void dict_append_array(DBusMessageIter *dict, const char *key, int type,
 			void *val, int n_elements);