diff --git a/src/time/export_test.go b/src/time/export_test.go
index 4c08ab13afc..ae24ceb99ab 100644
--- a/src/time/export_test.go
+++ b/src/time/export_test.go
@@ -34,4 +34,5 @@ var (
 	GetMono                = (*Time).mono
 	ErrLocation            = errLocation
 	ReadFile               = readFile
+	LoadTzinfo             = loadTzinfo
 )
diff --git a/src/time/internal_test.go b/src/time/internal_test.go
index 07ebe5e03d7..76d55241241 100644
--- a/src/time/internal_test.go
+++ b/src/time/internal_test.go
@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@ func initTestingZone() {
 	localLoc = *z
 }
 
-var origZoneSources = zoneSources
+var OrigZoneSources = zoneSources
 
 func forceZipFileForTesting(zipOnly bool) {
-	zoneSources = make([]string, len(origZoneSources))
-	copy(zoneSources, origZoneSources)
+	zoneSources = make([]string, len(OrigZoneSources))
+	copy(zoneSources, OrigZoneSources)
 	if zipOnly {
 		zoneSources = zoneSources[len(zoneSources)-1:]
 	}
diff --git a/src/time/zoneinfo.go b/src/time/zoneinfo.go
index 4424b441068..96ff8d39708 100644
--- a/src/time/zoneinfo.go
+++ b/src/time/zoneinfo.go
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ func LoadLocation(name string) (*Location, error) {
 	})
 	if *zoneinfo != "" {
 		if zoneData, err := loadTzinfoFromDirOrZip(*zoneinfo, name); err == nil {
-			if z, err := newLocationFromTzinfo(name, zoneData); err == nil {
+			if z, err := LoadLocationFromTZData(name, zoneData); err == nil {
 				return z, nil
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/src/time/zoneinfo_read.go b/src/time/zoneinfo_read.go
index 6fdcc1a2a86..839b37aac4e 100644
--- a/src/time/zoneinfo_read.go
+++ b/src/time/zoneinfo_read.go
@@ -79,11 +79,12 @@ func byteString(p []byte) string {
 
 var badData = errors.New("malformed time zone information")
 
-// newLocationFromTzinfo returns the Location described by Tzinfo with the given name.
-// The expected format for Tzinfo is that of a timezone file as they are found in the
-// the IANA Time Zone database.
-func newLocationFromTzinfo(name string, Tzinfo []byte) (*Location, error) {
-	d := dataIO{Tzinfo, false}
+// LoadLocationFromTZData returns a Location with the given name
+// initialized from the IANA Time Zone database-formatted data.
+// The data should be in the format of a standard IANA time zone file
+// (for example, the content of /etc/localtime on Unix systems).
+func LoadLocationFromTZData(name string, data []byte) (*Location, error) {
+	d := dataIO{data, false}
 
 	// 4-byte magic "TZif"
 	if magic := d.read(4); string(magic) != "TZif" {
@@ -390,7 +391,7 @@ func loadLocation(name string, sources []string) (z *Location, firstErr error) {
 	for _, source := range sources {
 		var zoneData, err = loadTzinfo(name, source)
 		if err == nil {
-			if z, err = newLocationFromTzinfo(name, zoneData); err == nil {
+			if z, err = LoadLocationFromTZData(name, zoneData); err == nil {
 				return z, nil
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/src/time/zoneinfo_test.go b/src/time/zoneinfo_test.go
index 452262f2caf..b9455db025a 100644
--- a/src/time/zoneinfo_test.go
+++ b/src/time/zoneinfo_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ package time_test
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -116,3 +117,27 @@ func TestLocationNames(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf(`invalid UTC location name: got %q want "UTC"`, time.UTC)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestLoadLocationFromTzinfo(t *testing.T) {
+	time.ForceZipFileForTesting(true)
+	defer time.ForceZipFileForTesting(false)
+
+	const locationName = "Asia/Jerusalem"
+	reference, err := time.LoadLocation(locationName)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	tzinfo, err := time.LoadTzinfo(locationName, time.OrigZoneSources[len(time.OrigZoneSources)-1])
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	sample, err := time.LoadLocationFromTZData(locationName, tzinfo)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(reference, sample) {
+		t.Errorf("return values of LoadLocationFromTZData and LoadLocation don't match")
+	}
+}