diff --git a/lib/classes/component.php b/lib/classes/component.php
index 9284f7d5a01..11ce5a6d552 100644
--- a/lib/classes/component.php
+++ b/lib/classes/component.php
@@ -1278,4 +1278,31 @@ $cache = '.var_export($cache, true).';
         }
         return $components;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a list of frankenstyle component names.
+     *
+     * E.g.
+     *  [
+     *      'core_course',
+     *      'core_message',
+     *      'mod_assign',
+     *      ...
+     *  ]
+     * @return array the list of frankenstyle component names.
+     */
+    public static function get_component_names() : array {
+        $componentnames = [];
+        // Get all plugins.
+        foreach (self::get_plugin_types() as $plugintype => $typedir) {
+            foreach (self::get_plugin_list($plugintype) as $pluginname => $plugindir) {
+                $componentnames[] = $plugintype . '_' . $pluginname;
+            }
+        }
+        // Get all subsystems.
+        foreach (self::get_core_subsystems() as $subsystemname => $subsystempath) {
+            $componentnames[] = 'core_' . $subsystemname;
+        }
+        return $componentnames;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/lib/tests/component_test.php b/lib/tests/component_test.php
index 625279d1797..2b79591082b 100644
--- a/lib/tests/component_test.php
+++ b/lib/tests/component_test.php
@@ -805,4 +805,31 @@ class core_component_testcase extends advanced_testcase {
         $this->assertEquals($componentslist['mod']['mod_forum'], $CFG->dirroot . '/mod/forum');
         $this->assertEquals($componentslist['tool']['tool_usertours'], $CFG->dirroot . '/' . $CFG->admin . '/tool/usertours');
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Test the get_component_names() method.
+     */
+    public function test_get_component_names() {
+        global $CFG;
+        $componentnames = \core_component::get_component_names();
+
+        // We should have an entry for each plugin type.
+        $plugintypes = \core_component::get_plugin_types();
+        $numplugintypes = 0;
+        foreach ($plugintypes as $type => $typedir) {
+            foreach (\core_component::get_plugin_list($type) as $plugin) {
+                $numplugintypes++;
+            }
+        }
+        // And an entry for each core subsystem.
+        $numcomponents = $numplugintypes + count(\core_component::get_core_subsystems());
+
+        $this->assertEquals($numcomponents, count($componentnames));
+
+        // Check a few of the known plugin types to confirm their presence at their respective type index.
+        $this->assertContains('core_comment', $componentnames);
+        $this->assertContains('mod_forum', $componentnames);
+        $this->assertContains('tool_usertours', $componentnames);
+        $this->assertContains('core_favourites', $componentnames);
+    }
 }