diff --git a/core/CMakeLists.txt b/core/CMakeLists.txt
index f4823dd46b323..e2b82baf5d2ab 100644
--- a/core/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/core/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ add_subdirectory(rint)
 add_subdirectory(testsupport)
 add_subdirectory(textinput)
 add_subdirectory(thread)
+add_subdirectory(utils)
 add_subdirectory(zip)
 add_subdirectory(lzma)
 add_subdirectory(lz4)
diff --git a/core/utils/CMakeLists.txt b/core/utils/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..bf2cdfb48f3d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/utils/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+ROOT_ADD_TEST_SUBDIRECTORY(test)
+
diff --git a/main/src/optparse.hxx b/core/utils/inc/optparse.hxx
similarity index 100%
rename from main/src/optparse.hxx
rename to core/utils/inc/optparse.hxx
diff --git a/main/test/CMakeLists.txt b/core/utils/test/CMakeLists.txt
similarity index 100%
rename from main/test/CMakeLists.txt
rename to core/utils/test/CMakeLists.txt
diff --git a/main/test/optparse_test.cxx b/core/utils/test/optparse_test.cxx
similarity index 99%
rename from main/test/optparse_test.cxx
rename to core/utils/test/optparse_test.cxx
index 9e166416e9c08..83be163eee82a 100644
--- a/main/test/optparse_test.cxx
+++ b/core/utils/test/optparse_test.cxx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
-#include "../src/optparse.hxx"
+#include "../inc/optparse.hxx"
 
 #include <vector>
 
diff --git a/main/CMakeLists.txt b/main/CMakeLists.txt
index 1cef3284ca727..8df316efca455 100644
--- a/main/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/main/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -135,10 +135,18 @@ add_dependencies(rootcint rootcint)
 
 if (TARGET Gui)
   ROOT_EXECUTABLE(rootbrowse src/rootbrowse.cxx LIBRARIES RIO Core Rint Gui)
+  target_include_directories(rootbrowse PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/core/utils/inc)
 endif()
+
 ROOT_EXECUTABLE(rootcp src/rootcp.cxx LIBRARIES RIO Tree Core Rint)
+target_include_directories(rootcp PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/core/utils/inc)
+
 ROOT_EXECUTABLE(rootls src/rootls.cxx LIBRARIES RIO Tree Core Rint ROOTNTuple)
+target_include_directories(rootls PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/core/utils/inc)
+
 ROOT_EXECUTABLE(rootmkdir src/rootmkdir.cxx LIBRARIES RIO Core Rint)
+target_include_directories(rootmkdir PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/core/utils/inc)
+
 ROOT_EXECUTABLE(rootrm src/rootrm.cxx LIBRARIES RIO Core Rint)
+target_include_directories(rootrm PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/core/utils/inc)
 
-ROOT_ADD_TEST_SUBDIRECTORY(test)