diff --git a/include/lsst/cpputils/packaging.h b/include/lsst/cpputils/packaging.h
index 77e39df..26ccab7 100644
--- a/include/lsst/cpputils/packaging.h
+++ b/include/lsst/cpputils/packaging.h
@@ -39,6 +39,23 @@ namespace cpputils {
  */
 std::string getPackageDir(std::string const& packageName);
 
+/*!
+ * \brief return the root directory of the package whose shared library contains
+ *        the given address
+ *
+ * The address is resolved to its containing shared library via `dladdr`, and the
+ * package root is derived from that library's location (`.../lib/libFoo.so` ->
+ * `...`).  This allows a package to locate its own data files without relying on
+ * environment variables, provided the address belongs to a symbol compiled into
+ * that package's own shared library.
+ *
+ * \param[in] addressInLibrary  address of a symbol residing in the target
+ *                              package's shared library
+ *
+ * \throw lsst::pex::exceptions::NotFoundError if the library cannot be located
+ */
+std::string getPackageDirFromAddress(void const* addressInLibrary);
+
 }
 } // namespace lsst::cpputils
 
diff --git a/src/packaging.cc b/src/packaging.cc
index 5c1c277..81347d8 100644
--- a/src/packaging.cc
+++ b/src/packaging.cc
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@
 
 #include "lsst/cpputils/packaging.h"
 
+#include <dlfcn.h>
+
+#include <filesystem>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <string>
@@ -44,4 +47,34 @@ std::string getPackageDir(std::string const& packageName) {
     return dir;
 }
 
+std::string getPackageDirFromAddress(void const* addressInLibrary) {
+    // A null pointer is a caller precondition violation, not a lookup failure;
+    // reject it explicitly rather than relying on dladdr's unspecified behavior.
+    if (addressInLibrary == nullptr) {
+        throw LSST_EXCEPT(lsst::pex::exceptions::InvalidParameterError,
+                          "Null address passed to getPackageDirFromAddress");
+    }
+
+    // dladdr resolves an address to the shared object whose memory map contains
+    // it, regardless of which library's code is calling dladdr.  Passing an
+    // address from the target package's own library therefore yields that
+    // library's path (works identically for .so on Linux and .dylib on macOS).
+    Dl_info info{};
+    if (dladdr(addressInLibrary, &info) == 0 || info.dli_fname == nullptr) {
+        throw LSST_EXCEPT(lsst::pex::exceptions::NotFoundError,
+                          "Could not locate the shared library for the given address");
+    }
+
+    std::error_code ec;
+    std::filesystem::path libraryPath = std::filesystem::canonical(info.dli_fname, ec);
+    if (ec) {
+        throw LSST_EXCEPT(lsst::pex::exceptions::NotFoundError,
+                          "Could not resolve shared library path '" +
+                                  std::string(info.dli_fname) + "': " + ec.message());
+    }
+
+    // .../<packageRoot>/lib/lib<name>.{so,dylib} -> <packageRoot>
+    return libraryPath.parent_path().parent_path().string();
+}
+
 }} // namespace lsst::cpputils
diff --git a/tests/test_packaging.cc b/tests/test_packaging.cc
index 45a13c1..d77860f 100644
--- a/tests/test_packaging.cc
+++ b/tests/test_packaging.cc
@@ -42,4 +42,20 @@ BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(GetPackage) {
                       lsst::pex::exceptions::NotFoundError);
 }
 
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(GetPackageDirFromAddress) {
+    // The address of a symbol defined in libcpputils resolves, via dladdr, to
+    // the cpputils package directory -- independent of any environment variable.
+    auto anchor = reinterpret_cast<void const *>(&getPackageDirFromAddress);
+    // A valid address must resolve without throwing.
+    std::filesystem::path cpputilsPath;
+    BOOST_REQUIRE_NO_THROW(cpputilsPath = getPackageDirFromAddress(anchor));
+    BOOST_CHECK(std::filesystem::is_regular_file(cpputilsPath / "tests" / "test_packaging.cc"));
+    // It must agree with the environment-variable-based lookup for the same package.
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(std::filesystem::canonical(cpputilsPath),
+                      std::filesystem::canonical(getPackageDir("cpputils")));
+    // A null address is a precondition violation.
+    BOOST_CHECK_THROW(getPackageDirFromAddress(nullptr),
+                      lsst::pex::exceptions::InvalidParameterError);
+}
+
 BOOST_AUTO_TEST_SUITE_END()