diff --git a/toolkit/tlist.h b/toolkit/tlist.h
index 7ed5627d..3ea7a669 100644
--- a/toolkit/tlist.h
+++ b/toolkit/tlist.h
@@ -109,14 +109,16 @@ namespace TagLib {
     void sortedInsert(const T &value, bool unique = false);
 
     /*!
-     * Appends \a item to the end of the list.
+     * Appends \a item to the end of the list and returns a reference to the
+     * list.
      */
-    void append(const T &item);
+    List<T> &append(const T &item);
 
     /*!
-     * Appends all of the values in \a l to the end of the list.
+     * Appends all of the values in \a l to the end of the list and returns a
+     * reference to the list.
      */
-    void append(const List<T> &l);
+    List<T> &append(const List<T> &l);
 
     /*!
      * Clears the list.  If auto deletion is enabled and this list contains a
diff --git a/toolkit/tlist.tcc b/toolkit/tlist.tcc
index 1064a1c5..e94b85a7 100644
--- a/toolkit/tlist.tcc
+++ b/toolkit/tlist.tcc
@@ -149,17 +149,19 @@ void List<T>::sortedInsert(const T &value, bool unique)
 }
 
 template <class T>
-void List<T>::append(const T &item)
+List<T> &List<T>::append(const T &item)
 {
   detach();
   d->list.push_back(item);
+  return *this;
 }
 
 template <class T>
-void List<T>::append(const List<T> &l)
+List<T> &List<T>::append(const List<T> &l)
 {
   detach();
   d->list.insert(d->list.end(), l.begin(), l.end());
+  return *this;
 }
 
 template <class T>