diff --git a/plugins/common/properties.go b/plugins/common/properties.go
index 1e6ff8b15..b4e6d2fa9 100644
--- a/plugins/common/properties.go
+++ b/plugins/common/properties.go
@@ -182,6 +182,33 @@ func PropertyListGet(pluginName string, appName string, property string) (lines
 	return lines, nil
 }
 
+// PropertyListLength returns the length of a property list
+func PropertyListLength(pluginName string, appName string, property string) (length int, err error) {
+	if !PropertyExists(pluginName, appName, property) {
+		return length, nil
+	}
+
+	propertyPath := getPropertyPath(pluginName, appName, property)
+	file, err := os.Open(propertyPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return length, err
+	}
+	defer file.Close()
+
+	var lines []string
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(file)
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		lines = append(lines, scanner.Text())
+	}
+
+	if err = scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		return length, fmt.Errorf("Unable to read %s config value for %s.%s: %s", pluginName, appName, property, err.Error())
+	}
+
+	length = len(lines)
+	return length, nil
+}
+
 // PropertyListGetByIndex returns an entry within property list by index
 func PropertyListGetByIndex(pluginName string, appName string, property string, index int) (propertyValue string, err error) {
 	lines, err := PropertyListGet(pluginName, appName, property)
diff --git a/plugins/common/property-functions b/plugins/common/property-functions
index 66eeb67a4..faf5cad53 100755
--- a/plugins/common/property-functions
+++ b/plugins/common/property-functions
@@ -63,6 +63,12 @@ fn-plugin-property-list-get-by-value() {
   "$PLUGIN_CORE_AVAILABLE_PATH/common/prop" "lismember" "$PLUGIN" "$APP" "$KEY" "$VALUE"
 }
 
+fn-plugin-property-list-length() {
+  declare desc="returns a property list"
+  declare PLUGIN="$1" APP="$2" KEY="$3"
+  "$PLUGIN_CORE_AVAILABLE_PATH/common/prop" "llen" "$PLUGIN" "$APP" "$KEY"
+}
+
 fn-plugin-property-list-remove() {
   declare desc="removes a value from a property list"
   declare PLUGIN="$1" APP="$2" KEY="$3" VALUE="$4"
diff --git a/plugins/common/src/prop/prop.go b/plugins/common/src/prop/prop.go
index 0c4a1bc99..7a2426bbf 100644
--- a/plugins/common/src/prop/prop.go
+++ b/plugins/common/src/prop/prop.go
@@ -46,13 +46,13 @@ func main() {
 	case "llen":
 		appName := flag.Arg(2)
 		property := flag.Arg(3)
-		lines, err := common.PropertyListGet(pluginName, appName, property)
+		length, err := common.PropertyListLength(pluginName, appName, property)
 		if err != nil {
 			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err.Error())
 			os.Exit(1)
 		}
 
-		println(len(lines))
+		println(length)
 	case "lrange":
 		appName := flag.Arg(2)
 		property := flag.Arg(3)