diff --git a/sw/qa/extras/inc/swmodeltestbase.hxx b/sw/qa/extras/inc/swmodeltestbase.hxx
index 20d76cc13438..a204ca0720d8 100644
--- a/sw/qa/extras/inc/swmodeltestbase.hxx
+++ b/sw/qa/extras/inc/swmodeltestbase.hxx
@@ -573,6 +573,20 @@ protected:
         return OUString::createFromAscii((const char*)xmlGetProp(pXmlNode, BAD_CAST(rAttribute.getStr())));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Same as the assertXPathContent(), but don't assert: return the string instead.
+     */
+    OUString getXPathContent(xmlDocPtr pXmlDoc, const OString& rXPath)
+    {
+        xmlNodeSetPtr pXmlNodes = getXPathNode(pXmlDoc, rXPath);
+
+        CPPUNIT_ASSERT_MESSAGE(OString("XPath '" + rXPath + "' not found").getStr(),
+                xmlXPathNodeSetGetLength(pXmlNodes) > 0);
+
+        xmlNodePtr pXmlNode = pXmlNodes->nodeTab[0];
+        return OUString::createFromAscii((const char*)((pXmlNode->children[0]).content));
+    }
+
     /**
      * Assert that rXPath exists, and returns exactly one node.
      * In case rAttribute is provided, the rXPath's attribute's value must