diff --git a/include/openmc/hdf5_interface.h b/include/openmc/hdf5_interface.h
index f601673041..ae91ce2ae9 100644
--- a/include/openmc/hdf5_interface.h
+++ b/include/openmc/hdf5_interface.h
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ inline hid_t create_group(hid_t parent_id, const std::stringstream& name)
 
 
 hid_t file_open(const std::string& filename, char mode, bool parallel=false);
-
+hid_t open_group(hid_t group_id, const std::string& name);
 void write_string(hid_t group_id, const char* name, const std::string& buffer,
                   bool indep);
 
diff --git a/src/hdf5_interface.cpp b/src/hdf5_interface.cpp
index 0f8db2dc5f..522c9c2625 100644
--- a/src/hdf5_interface.cpp
+++ b/src/hdf5_interface.cpp
@@ -225,6 +225,11 @@ file_open(const std::string& filename, char mode, bool parallel)
   return file_open(filename.c_str(), mode, parallel);
 }
 
+hid_t open_group(hid_t group_id, const std::string& name)
+{
+  return open_group(group_id, name.c_str());
+}
+
 void file_close(hid_t file_id)
 {
   H5Fclose(file_id);