diff --git a/metropolis/node/BUILD.bazel b/metropolis/node/BUILD.bazel
index 876dbfc..6354edc 100644
--- a/metropolis/node/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/metropolis/node/BUILD.bazel
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@
         "//metropolis:__subpackages__",
         "@io_k8s_kubernetes//pkg/registry:__subpackages__",
     ],
-    deps = ["@com_github_vishvananda_netlink//:netlink"],
+    deps = [
+        "//metropolis/proto/common",
+        "@com_github_vishvananda_netlink//:netlink",
+    ],
 )
 
 # debug_build checks if we're building in debug mode and enables various debug features for the image.
diff --git a/metropolis/node/labels.go b/metropolis/node/labels.go
index 08d0c6e..3e51aae 100644
--- a/metropolis/node/labels.go
+++ b/metropolis/node/labels.go
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
+
+	cpb "source.monogon.dev/metropolis/proto/common"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -62,3 +64,14 @@
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+// GetNodeLabel retrieves a node label by key, returning its value or an empty
+// string if no labels with this key is set on the node.
+func GetNodeLabel(labels *cpb.NodeLabels, key string) string {
+	for _, pair := range labels.Pairs {
+		if pair.Key == key {
+			return pair.Value
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}