diff --git a/security/Authenticator.php b/security/Authenticator.php
index f95f5cc29..a643c38bc 100644
--- a/security/Authenticator.php
+++ b/security/Authenticator.php
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ abstract class Authenticator extends Object {
    * {@link Authenticator}.
    * Every authenticator can be registered only once.
    *
+   * @param string $authenticator Name of the authenticator class to
+   *                              register
    * @return bool Returns TRUE on success, FALSE otherwise.
    */
   public static function register_authenticator($authenticator) {
@@ -89,6 +91,18 @@ abstract class Authenticator extends Object {
   }
 
 
+  /**
+   * Check if a given authenticator is registered
+   *
+   * @param string $authenticator Name of the authenticator class to check
+   * @return bool Returns TRUE if the authenticator is registered, FALSE
+   *              otherwise.
+   */
+  public static function is_registered($authenticator) {
+    return in_array($authenticator, self::$authenticators);
+  }
+
+
   /**
    * Get all registered authenticators
    *