diff --git a/src/lib/itertools.hpp b/src/lib/itertools.hpp
index 09f92d8c3..80092d61b 100644
--- a/src/lib/itertools.hpp
+++ b/src/lib/itertools.hpp
@@ -354,6 +354,37 @@ namespace lib {
   }
   
   
+  /** 
+   * Helper: predicate returning \c true
+   * whenever the argument value changes
+   * during a sequence of invocations. 
+   */ 
+  template<typename VAL>
+  class SkipRepetition
+    {
+      typedef wrapper::ItemWrapper<VAL> Item;
+      
+      Item prev_;
+      
+    public:
+      bool
+      operator() (VAL const& elm)
+        {
+           if (prev_ &&
+              (*prev_ == elm))
+             return false;
+           
+           // element differs from predecessor
+           prev_ = elm;
+           return true;
+        }
+      
+      typedef bool result_type;
+    };
+  
+  
+  
+  
   
   
   
@@ -509,6 +540,18 @@ namespace lib {
   }
   
   
+  /** filters away repeated values
+   *  emitted by source iterator */
+  template<class IT>
+  FilterIter<IT>
+  filterRepetitions (IT const& source)
+  {
+    typedef typename IT::value_type Val;
+    return filterIterator(source, SkipRepetition<Val>() );
+  }
+  
+  
+  
   
   
 } // namespace lib
diff --git a/src/lib/wrapper.hpp b/src/lib/wrapper.hpp
index 8b36f9b1e..918c9834a 100644
--- a/src/lib/wrapper.hpp
+++ b/src/lib/wrapper.hpp
@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@ namespace wrapper {
       /* == copy and assignment == */
      
       ItemWrapper (ItemWrapper const& ref)
+        : created_(false)
         {
           if (ref.isValid())
             build (*ref);
diff --git a/tests/lib/itertools-test.cpp b/tests/lib/itertools-test.cpp
index 850c8a03e..22aea64e1 100644
--- a/tests/lib/itertools-test.cpp
+++ b/tests/lib/itertools-test.cpp
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 
 #include <boost/lexical_cast.hpp>
 #include <iostream>
+#include <cstdlib>
 #include <vector>
 
 
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ namespace test{
   using std::vector;
   using std::cout;
   using std::endl;
+  using std::rand;
   
   
   
@@ -105,6 +107,7 @@ namespace test{
           Iter ii (source.begin());
           ++++++ii;
           buildFilterIterator (ii);
+          verify_filterRepetitions();
           
           buildTransformingIterator (source.begin());
         }
@@ -147,6 +150,40 @@ namespace test{
         }
       
       
+      /** @test verify the helper to filter duplicate elements
+       *        emitted by an source iterator. This test creates
+       *        a sequence of numbers with random repetitions.
+       */
+      void
+      verify_filterRepetitions ()
+        {
+          vector<uint> numberz;
+          for (uint i=0; i<NUM_ELMS; ++i)
+            {
+              uint n = 1 + rand() % 100;
+              do numberz.push_back(i);
+              while (--n);
+            }
+          ASSERT (NUM_ELMS < numberz.size(), "no repetition in test data??");
+          
+          typedef vector<uint>::iterator SrcIter;
+          typedef RangeIter<SrcIter> SeqIter;
+          typedef FilterIter<SeqIter> FilteredSeq;
+          
+          SeqIter completeSequence (numberz.begin(), numberz.end());
+          FilteredSeq filtered = filterRepetitions (completeSequence);
+          
+          uint num=0;
+          for (; num<NUM_ELMS && !isnil(filtered);
+               ++num,
+               ++filtered
+              )
+            ASSERT (num == *filtered);
+          
+          ASSERT (num == NUM_ELMS && isnil(filtered));
+        }
+      
+      
       
       static ulong addTwo (int i) { return i+2; }
       static int   negate (int i) { return -i; }