diff --git a/interfaces/cython/cantera/_utils.pxd b/interfaces/cython/cantera/_utils.pxd
index bb3abb8193..c5f9789426 100644
--- a/interfaces/cython/cantera/_utils.pxd
+++ b/interfaces/cython/cantera/_utils.pxd
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ cdef extern from "cantera/base/global.h" namespace "Cantera":
     cdef void Cxx_suppress_thermo_warnings "Cantera::suppress_thermo_warnings" (cbool)
     cdef void Cxx_use_legacy_rate_constants "Cantera::use_legacy_rate_constants" (cbool)
     cdef string CxxGitCommit "Cantera::gitCommit" ()
+    cdef cbool CxxUsesHighFive "Cantera::usesHighFive" ()
     cdef cbool CxxDebugModeEnabled "Cantera::debugModeEnabled" ()
 
 
diff --git a/interfaces/cython/cantera/_utils.pyx b/interfaces/cython/cantera/_utils.pyx
index 4a402d0159..674a81271a 100644
--- a/interfaces/cython/cantera/_utils.pyx
+++ b/interfaces/cython/cantera/_utils.pyx
@@ -93,6 +93,23 @@ def use_legacy_rate_constants(pybool legacy):
     """
     Cxx_use_legacy_rate_constants(legacy)
 
+def hdf_support():
+    """
+    Returns list of libraries that include HDF support:
+    - 'h5py': HDF support by Python package 'h5py'.
+    - 'HighFive': if Cantera was compiled with C++ HighFive HDF support.
+    """
+    out = []
+    try:
+        pkg_resources.get_distribution("h5py")
+    except pkg_resources.DistributionNotFound:
+        pass
+    else:
+        out.append("h5py")
+    if CxxUsesHighFive():
+        out.append("HighFive")
+    return set(out)
+
 cdef Composition comp_map(X) except *:
     if isinstance(X, (str, bytes)):
         return parseCompString(stringify(X))