diff --git a/node_reference/node_reference.module b/node_reference/node_reference.module
index 6480f6cf52e3231fc46ff51e9fcbe43ed55f5c95..b4f52acdec6d3391e7bb59f589d038cfc6dbec06 100644
--- a/node_reference/node_reference.module
+++ b/node_reference/node_reference.module
@@ -1297,3 +1297,39 @@ function node_reference_views_filter_options($field_name) {
 
   return $options;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Returns nodes of the given type(s) that are referred to in a given node.
+ *
+ * @param object $node
+ *   The node object from which the references should be retrieved.
+ * @param array $types
+ *   An array listing the desired content types. If omitted all referenced nodes
+ *   are returned, regardless of type.
+ *
+ * @return array
+ *   An associative array of nodes of the given types that are referred to in
+ *   the given node, keyed by nid.
+ */
+function node_reference_get_referred_nodes($node, array $types = array()) {
+
+  $nodes = array();
+
+  if (!isset($node->type)) {
+    return $nodes;
+  }
+
+  foreach (field_info_fields() as $field_name => $field_info) {
+    if ($field_info['type'] == 'node_reference' && (empty($types) || array_intersect($types, $field_info['settings']['referenceable_types'])) && array_intersect(array($node->type), $field_info['bundles']['node'])) {
+      $field_items = field_get_items('node', $node, $field_name);
+      if (is_array($field_items) && !empty($field_items)) {
+        foreach ($field_items as $field_item) {
+          if (($referred_node = node_load($field_item['nid'])) && (empty($types) || in_array($referred_node->type, $types))) {
+            $nodes[$field_item['nid']] = $referred_node;
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return $nodes;
+}