diff --git a/headers/private/shared/AboutMenuItem.h b/headers/private/shared/AboutMenuItem.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6a1b96c3f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/headers/private/shared/AboutMenuItem.h
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2011 Haiku, Inc.
+ * Distributed under the terms of the MIT License.
+ */
+#ifndef B_ABOUT_MENU_ITEM_H
+#define B_ABOUT_MENU_ITEM_H
+
+
+#include <MenuItem.h>
+
+
+class BAboutMenuItem : public BMenuItem {
+public:
+							BAboutMenuItem(const char* appName);
+};
+
+
+#endif	// B_ABOUT_MENU_ITEM_H
diff --git a/src/kits/shared/AboutMenuItem.cpp b/src/kits/shared/AboutMenuItem.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..15cddd01a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/kits/shared/AboutMenuItem.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2007-2011 Haiku, Inc.
+ * Distributed under the terms of the MIT License.
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *		Ryan Leavengood, leavengood@gmail.com
+ *		Jonas Sundström, jonas@kirilla.se
+ */
+
+
+#include <AboutMenuItem.h>
+#include <Catalog.h>
+#include <LocaleBackend.h>
+#include <String.h>
+
+
+using BPrivate::gLocaleBackend;
+using BPrivate::LocaleBackend;
+
+
+#undef B_TRANSLATE_CONTEXT
+#define B_TRANSLATE_CONTEXT "AboutMenuItem"
+
+
+BAboutMenuItem::BAboutMenuItem(const char* appName)
+	:
+	BMenuItem("", new BMessage(B_ABOUT_REQUESTED))
+{
+	// we need to translate some strings, and in order to do so, we need
+	// to use the LocaleBackend to reach liblocale.so
+	if (gLocaleBackend == NULL)
+		LocaleBackend::LoadBackend();
+
+	const char* string = B_TRANSLATE_MARK("About %app%" B_UTF8_ELLIPSIS);
+	if (gLocaleBackend) {
+		string = gLocaleBackend->GetString(string, "AboutMenuItem");
+	}
+
+	BString label = string;
+	label.ReplaceFirst("%app%", appName);
+	SetLabel(label.String());
+}
diff --git a/src/kits/shared/Jamfile b/src/kits/shared/Jamfile
index 9a4007600d..c957f910d3 100644
--- a/src/kits/shared/Jamfile
+++ b/src/kits/shared/Jamfile
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ UsePrivateSystemHeaders ;
 UsePrivateHeaders kernel libroot ;
 
 StaticLibrary libshared.a :
+	AboutMenuItem.cpp
 	AboutWindow.cpp
 	CalendarView.cpp
 	ColorQuantizer.cpp