diff --git a/notebook/utils.py b/notebook/utils.py
index 92a2410cc..c472367b2 100644
--- a/notebook/utils.py
+++ b/notebook/utils.py
@@ -141,6 +141,23 @@ def is_hidden(abs_path, abs_root=''):
 
     return False
 
+def same_file(path, other_path):
+    """
+    Check if path and other_path are hard links to the same file. This is a
+    utility implementation of Python's os.path.samefile which is not available
+    with Python 2.x and Windows.
+
+    Parameters
+    -----------
+    path:       String representing a path to a file
+    other_path: String representing a path to another file
+
+    Returns
+    -----------
+    same:   Boolean that is True if both path and other path are the same
+    """
+    return os.stat(path).st_ino == os.stat(other_path).st_ino
+
 def to_os_path(path, root=''):
     """Convert an API path to a filesystem path