diff --git a/include/fpu/softfloat.h b/include/fpu/softfloat.h
index f3b9008f78..1d34f2c3eb 100644
--- a/include/fpu/softfloat.h
+++ b/include/fpu/softfloat.h
@@ -265,6 +265,13 @@ static inline int float16_is_zero_or_denormal(float16 a)
     return (float16_val(a) & 0x7c00) == 0;
 }
 
+static inline float16 float16_abs(float16 a)
+{
+    /* Note that abs does *not* handle NaN specially, nor does
+     * it flush denormal inputs to zero.
+     */
+    return make_float16(float16_val(a) & 0x7fff);
+}
 /*----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 | The pattern for a default generated half-precision NaN.
 *----------------------------------------------------------------------------*/