diff --git a/vlib/crypto/hmac/hmac.v b/vlib/crypto/hmac/hmac.v
index e537bd56ab..09f4cf8847 100644
--- a/vlib/crypto/hmac/hmac.v
+++ b/vlib/crypto/hmac/hmac.v
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 // implementation based on https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2104
 module hmac
 
+import crypto.internal.subtle
+
 const (
 	ipad = []byte{len: 256, init: 0x36} // TODO is 256 enough??
 	opad = []byte{len: 256, init: 0x5C}
@@ -33,3 +35,10 @@ pub fn new(key, data []byte, hash_func fn (bytes []byte) []byte, blocksize int)
 	digest := hash_func(outer)
 	return digest
 }
+
+// equal compares 2 MACs for equality, without leaking timing info
+// NB: if the lengths of the 2 MACs are different, probably a completely different
+// hash function was used to generate them => no useful timing information.
+pub fn equal(mac1, mac2 []byte) bool {
+	return subtle.constant_time_compare(mac1, mac2) == 1
+}
diff --git a/vlib/crypto/hmac/hmac_test.v b/vlib/crypto/hmac/hmac_test.v
index e5518832a0..9c0c3b37c0 100644
--- a/vlib/crypto/hmac/hmac_test.v
+++ b/vlib/crypto/hmac/hmac_test.v
@@ -152,6 +152,17 @@ fn test_hmac_sha512() {
 	}
 }
 
+fn test_hmac_equal() {
+	mac1_1 := '7641c48a3b4aa8f887c07b3e83f96affb89c978fed8c96fcbbf4ad596eebfe496f9f16da6cd080ba393c6f365ad72b50d15c71bfb1d6b81f66a911786c6ce932'.bytes()
+	mac1_2 := '7641c48a3b4aa8f887c07b3e83f96affb89c978fed8c96fcbbf4ad596eebfe496f9f16da6cd080ba393c6f365ad72b50d15c71bfb1d6b81f66a911786c6ce932'.bytes()
+	mac2_1 := '164b7a7bfcf819e2e395fbe73b56e0a387bd64222e831fd610270cd7ea2505549758bf75c05a994a6d034f65f8f0e6fdcaeab1a34d4a6b4b636e070a38bce737'.bytes()
+	mac2_2 := '164b7a7bfcf819e2e395fbe73b56e0a387bd64222e831fd610270cd7ea2505549758bf75c05a994a6d034f65f8f0e6fdcaeab1a34d4a6b4b636e070a38bce737'.bytes()
+	assert hmac.equal(mac1_1, mac1_2)
+	assert hmac.equal(mac2_1, mac2_2)
+	assert !hmac.equal(mac1_1, mac2_1)
+	assert !hmac.equal(mac1_1, mac2_2)
+}
+
 // not yet supported by crypto module
 // sha3_224_expected_results  := [
 // 'f68da7f7bf577de799bb1224b7acfef9e8de015a63475ed5904a4693'
diff --git a/vlib/crypto/internal/subtle/comparison.v b/vlib/crypto/internal/subtle/comparison.v
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..462a238caf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vlib/crypto/internal/subtle/comparison.v
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+module subtle
+
+// constant_time_byte_eq returns 1 when x == y.
+pub fn constant_time_byte_eq(x, y byte) int {
+	return int((u32(x ^ y) - 1) >> 31)
+}
+
+// constant_time_eq returns 1 when x == y.
+pub fn constant_time_eq(x, y int) int {
+	return int((u64(u32(x ^ y)) - 1) >> 63)
+}
+
+// constant_time_select returns x when v == 1, and y when v == 0.
+// it is undefined when v is any other value
+pub fn constant_time_select(v, x, y int) int {
+	return (~(v - 1) & x) | ((v - 1) & y)
+}
+
+// constant_time_compare returns 1 when x and y have equal contents.
+// The runtime of this function is proportional of the length of x and y.
+// It is *NOT* dependent on their content.
+pub fn constant_time_compare(x, y []byte) int {
+	if x.len != y.len {
+		return 0
+	}
+	mut v := byte(0)
+	for i in 0 .. x.len {
+		v |= x[i] ^ y[i]
+	}
+	return constant_time_byte_eq(v, 0)
+}
+
+// constant_time_copy copies the contents of y into x, when v == 1.
+// When v == 0, x is left unchanged. this function is undefined, when
+// v takes any other value
+pub fn constant_time_copy(v int, mut x []byte, y []byte) {
+	if x.len != y.len {
+		panic('subtle: arrays have different lengths')
+	}
+	xmask := byte(v - 1)
+	ymask := byte(~(v - 1))
+	for i := 0; i < x.len; i++ {
+		x[i] = x[i] & xmask | y[i] & ymask
+	}
+}
+
+// constant_time_less_or_eq returns 1 if x <= y, and 0 otherwise.
+// it is undefined when x or y are negative, or > (2^32 - 1)
+pub fn constant_time_less_or_eq(x, y int) int {
+	x32 := int(x)
+	y32 := int(y)
+	return int(((x32 - y32 - 1) >> 31) & 1)
+}
diff --git a/vlib/crypto/internal/subtle/comparison_test.v b/vlib/crypto/internal/subtle/comparison_test.v
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b339746bf1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vlib/crypto/internal/subtle/comparison_test.v
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+module subtle
+
+fn test_constant_time_byte_eq() {
+	assert constant_time_byte_eq(0, 0) == 1
+	assert constant_time_byte_eq(1, 1) == 1
+	assert constant_time_byte_eq(255, 255) == 1
+	assert constant_time_byte_eq(255, 1) == 0
+	assert constant_time_byte_eq(1, 255) == 0
+	assert constant_time_byte_eq(2, 1) == 0
+}
+
+fn test_constant_time_eq() {
+	assert constant_time_eq(0, 0) == 1
+	assert constant_time_eq(255, 255) == 1
+	assert constant_time_eq(65536, 65536) == 1
+	assert constant_time_eq(-1, -1) == 1
+	assert constant_time_eq(-256, -256) == 1
+	assert constant_time_eq(0, 1) == 0
+}
+
+fn test_constant_time_select() {
+	assert constant_time_select(1, 1, 0) == 1
+	assert constant_time_select(1, 1, 255) == 1
+	assert constant_time_select(1, 1, 255 * 255) == 1
+	assert constant_time_select(1, 2, 0) == 2
+	assert constant_time_select(1, 2, 255) == 2
+	assert constant_time_select(1, 2, 255 * 255) == 2
+	//
+	assert constant_time_select(0, 1, 0) == 0
+	assert constant_time_select(0, 1, 255) == 255
+	assert constant_time_select(0, 1, 255 * 255) == 255 * 255
+	assert constant_time_select(0, 2, 0) == 0
+	assert constant_time_select(0, 2, 255) == 255
+	assert constant_time_select(0, 2, 255 * 255) == 255 * 255
+}
+
+fn test_constant_time_compare() {
+	assert constant_time_compare([byte(1), 2, 3], [byte(1), 2, 3]) == 1
+	assert constant_time_compare([byte(1), 2, 3], [byte(1), 2, 9]) == 0
+	assert constant_time_compare([byte(1), 2, 3], [byte(1), 2, 3, 4]) == 0
+	assert constant_time_compare([byte(1), 2, 3], [byte(1), 2]) == 0
+}
+
+fn test_constant_time_copy() {
+	y := [byte(3), 4, 5]
+	mut x := [byte(0), 0, 0]
+	constant_time_copy(0, mut x, y)
+	assert x == [byte(0), 0, 0]
+	constant_time_copy(1, mut x, y)
+	assert x == y
+	assert x == [byte(3), 4, 5]
+}
+
+fn test_constant_time_less_or_eq() {
+	assert constant_time_less_or_eq(1, 1) == 1
+	assert constant_time_less_or_eq(1, 2) == 1
+	assert constant_time_less_or_eq(1, 3) == 1
+	assert constant_time_less_or_eq(255, 255) == 1
+	assert constant_time_less_or_eq(255, 256) == 1
+	assert constant_time_less_or_eq(255, 257) == 1
+	assert constant_time_less_or_eq(1, 0) == 0
+	assert constant_time_less_or_eq(2, 1) == 0
+	assert constant_time_less_or_eq(3, 2) == 0
+	assert constant_time_less_or_eq(255, 3) == 0
+}