diff --git a/lib/src/library.dart b/lib/src/library.dart
index eb3db2e2..9cbe704c 100644
--- a/lib/src/library.dart
+++ b/lib/src/library.dart
@@ -168,18 +168,60 @@ class LibraryReader {
   Iterable<ClassElement> get classElements =>
       element.definingCompilationUnit.types;
 
-  Iterable<Element> _getElements(CompilationUnitMember member) {
+  static Iterable<Element> _getElements(CompilationUnitMember member) {
     if (member is TopLevelVariableDeclaration) {
       return member.variables.variables
           .map(resolutionMap.elementDeclaredByVariableDeclaration);
     }
     var element = resolutionMap.elementDeclaredByDeclaration(member);
-
     if (element == null) {
-      print([member, member.runtimeType, member.element]);
-      throw new Exception('Could not find any elements for the provided unit.');
+      throw new StateError(
+          'Could not find any elements for the provided unit.');
     }
-
     return [element];
   }
+
+  /// Returns the identifier prefix of [element] if it is referenced by one.
+  ///
+  /// For example in the following file:
+  /// ```
+  /// import 'bar.dart' as bar;
+  ///
+  /// bar.Bar b;
+  /// ```
+  ///
+  /// ... we'd assume that `b`'s type has a prefix of `bar`.
+  ///
+  /// If there is no prefix, one could not be computed, `null` is returned.
+  ///
+  /// If there is an attempt to read a prefix of a file _other_ than the current
+  /// library being read this will throw [StateError], as it is not always
+  /// possible to read details of the source file from other inputs.
+  String _prefixForType(Element element) {
+    final astNode = element.computeNode();
+    if (astNode is VariableDeclaration) {
+      final parentNode = astNode.parent as VariableDeclarationList;
+      return _prefixForTypeAnnotation(parentNode.type);
+    }
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  static String _prefixForTypeAnnotation(TypeAnnotation astNode) {
+    if (astNode is NamedType) {
+      return _prefixForIdentifier(astNode.name);
+    }
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  static String _prefixForIdentifier(Identifier id) {
+    return id is PrefixedIdentifier ? id.prefix.name : null;
+  }
 }
+
+// Testing-only access to LibraryReader._prefixFor.
+//
+// This is used to iterate on the tests without launching the feature.
+// Additionally it looks ike `computeNode()` will be deprecated, so we might
+// have to rewrite the entire body of the function in the near future; at least
+// the tests can help for correctness.
+String testingPrefixForType(LibraryReader r, Element e) => r._prefixForType(e);
diff --git a/test/library/prefix_for_type_test.dart b/test/library/prefix_for_type_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..70045288
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/library/prefix_for_type_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2017, the Dart project authors.  Please see the AUTHORS file
+// for details. All rights reserved. Use of this source code is governed by a
+// BSD-style license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// Increase timeouts on this test which resolves source code and can be slow.
+@Timeout.factor(2.0)
+import 'dart:async';
+
+import 'package:analyzer/dart/element/element.dart';
+import 'package:build/build.dart';
+import 'package:build_test/build_test.dart';
+import 'package:source_gen/source_gen.dart';
+import 'package:test/test.dart';
+
+import 'package:source_gen/src/library.dart' show testingPrefixForType;
+
+void main() {
+  // Holds the analyzer open until all of the tests complete.
+  final doneWithResolver = new Completer<Null>();
+
+  LibraryReader b;
+
+  setUpAll(() async {
+    final resolver = await resolveSources(
+      {
+        // The order here is important; pkg/build_test has a bug where only the
+        // first library can be accessed via "libraryFor", the others throw that
+        // the file is not a library.
+        //
+        // See https://github.com/dart-lang/build/issues/843.
+        'test_lib|lib/b.dart': sourceB,
+        'test_lib|lib/a.dart': sourceA,
+      },
+      (r) => r,
+      tearDown: doneWithResolver.future,
+    );
+    b = new LibraryReader(
+      await resolver.libraryFor(new AssetId('test_lib', 'lib/b.dart')),
+    );
+    expect(b.element, isNotNull);
+  });
+
+  tearDownAll(doneWithResolver.complete);
+
+  group('top level fields', () {
+    List<Element> topLevelFieldTypes;
+
+    setUpAll(() {
+      topLevelFieldTypes = b.element.definingCompilationUnit.topLevelVariables;
+    });
+
+    Element field(String name) =>
+        topLevelFieldTypes.firstWhere((e) => e.name == name,
+            orElse: () => throw new ArgumentError.value(
+                name, 'name', 'Could not find a field named $name.'));
+
+    test('should read the prefix of a type', () {
+      expect(
+        testingPrefixForType(b, field('topLevelFieldWithPrefix')),
+        'a_prefixed',
+      );
+    });
+
+    test('should read null when the type is not prefixed', () {
+      expect(
+        testingPrefixForType(b, field('topLevelFieldWithoutPrefix')),
+        isNull,
+      );
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+const sourceA = r'''
+  class A {}
+  class B {}
+''';
+
+const sourceB = r'''
+  import 'a.dart' show B;
+  import 'a.dart' as a_prefixed;
+
+  a_prefixed.A topLevelFieldWithPrefix;   // [0]
+  B topLevelFieldWithoutPrefix;           // [1]
+''';