diff --git a/py/kubeflow/testing/util.py b/py/kubeflow/testing/util.py
index 7568f782139..026b1a1f1b3 100755
--- a/py/kubeflow/testing/util.py
+++ b/py/kubeflow/testing/util.py
@@ -93,6 +93,25 @@ def run(command,
 def run_and_output(*args, **argv):
   return run(*args, **argv)
 
+def combine_repos(list_of_repos):
+  """Builds a dictionary of repo owner/names to commit hashes.
+
+  Args:
+    list_of_repos: A list of repos to checkout, each one in the format of
+      "owner/name@commit". Later values override earlier ones.
+  Returns:
+    repos: A dictionary of repository names to commit hashes.
+  """
+
+  # Convert list_of_repos to a dictionary where key is "repo_owner/repo_name"
+  # and value is the commit hash. By convention, values that appear later in
+  # the list would override earlier ones.
+  repos = {}
+  for r in list_of_repos:
+    parts = r.split('@')
+    repos[parts[0]] = parts[1]
+
+  return repos
 
 def clone_repo(dest,
                repo_owner=MASTER_REPO_OWNER,
diff --git a/py/kubeflow/tests/util_test.py b/py/kubeflow/tests/util_test.py
index 457677f0a11..b1d0f983a26 100644
--- a/py/kubeflow/tests/util_test.py
+++ b/py/kubeflow/tests/util_test.py
@@ -36,5 +36,35 @@ def testSplitGcsUri(self):
     self.assertEqual("some-bucket", bucket)
     self.assertEqual("", path)
 
+  def testCombineReposDefault(self):
+    repos = util.combine_repos([])
+    expected_repos = {}
+    self.assertDictEqual(repos, expected_repos)
+
+  def testCombineReposOverrides(self):
+    repos = util.combine_repos(["kubeflow/kubeflow@HEAD",
+                                "kubeflow/tf-operator@HEAD",
+                                "kubeflow/kubeflow@12345",
+                                "kubeflow/tf-operator@23456"])
+    expected_repos = {
+      "kubeflow/kubeflow": "12345",
+      "kubeflow/tf-operator": "23456"
+    }
+    self.assertDictEqual(repos, expected_repos)
+
+  def testCombineReposExtras(self):
+    repos = util.combine_repos(["kubeflow/kubeflow@HEAD",
+                                "kubeflow/tf-operator@HEAD",
+                                "kubeflow/kfctl@12345",
+                                "kubeflow/katib@23456"])
+    expected_repos = {
+      "kubeflow/kubeflow": "HEAD",
+      "kubeflow/tf-operator": "HEAD",
+      "kubeflow/kfctl": "12345",
+      "kubeflow/katib": "23456"
+    }
+    self.assertDictEqual(repos, expected_repos)
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
   unittest.main()