diff --git a/swh/model/tests/test_toposort.py b/swh/model/tests/test_toposort.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swh/model/tests/test_toposort.py
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2017-2018  The Software Heritage developers
+# See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
+# License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
+# See top-level LICENSE file for more information
+
+import unittest
+from swh.model.toposort import toposort
+
+
+def is_toposorted_slow(revision_log):
+    """Check (inefficiently) that the given revision log is in any topological
+    order.
+
+    Complexity: O(n^2).
+        (Note: It's totally possible to write a O(n) is_toposorted function,
+        but it requires computing the transitive closure of the input DAG,
+        which requires computing a topological ordering of that DAG, which
+        kind of defeats the purpose of writing unit tests for toposort().)
+
+    Args:
+        revision_log: Revision log as returned by
+            swh.storage.Storage.revision_log().
+
+    Returns:
+        True if the revision log is topologically sorted.
+    """
+    rev_by_id = {r['id']: r for r in revision_log}
+
+    def all_parents(revision):
+        for parent in revision['parents']:
+            yield parent
+            yield from all_parents(rev_by_id[parent])
+
+    visited = set()
+    for rev in revision_log:
+        visited.add(rev['id'])
+        if not all(parent in visited for parent in all_parents(rev)):
+            return False
+    return True
+
+
+class TestToposort(unittest.TestCase):
+    def generate_log(self, graph):
+        for node_id, parents in graph.items():
+            yield {'id': node_id, 'parents': parents}
+
+    def check(self, graph):
+        log = self.generate_log(graph)
+        self.assertTrue(is_toposorted_slow(toposort(log)))
+
+    def test_linked_list(self):
+        self.check({3: [2],
+                    2: [1],
+                    1: []})
+
+    def test_fork(self):
+        self.check({7: [6],
+                    6: [4],
+                    5: [3],
+                    4: [2],
+                    3: [2],
+                    2: [1],
+                    1: []})
+
+    def test_fork_merge(self):
+        self.check({8: [7, 5],
+                    7: [6],
+                    6: [4],
+                    5: [3],
+                    4: [2],
+                    3: [2],
+                    2: [1],
+                    1: []})
+
+    def test_two_origins(self):
+        self.check({9: [8],
+                    8: [7, 5],
+                    7: [6],
+                    6: [4],
+                    5: [3],
+                    4: [],
+                    3: []})
+
+    def test_three_way(self):
+        self.check({9: [8, 4, 2],
+                    8: [7, 5],
+                    7: [6],
+                    6: [4],
+                    5: [3],
+                    4: [2],
+                    3: [2],
+                    2: [1],
+                    1: []})
diff --git a/swh/model/toposort.py b/swh/model/toposort.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swh/model/toposort.py
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2017-2018  The Software Heritage developers
+# See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
+# License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
+# See top-level LICENSE file for more information
+
+import collections
+
+
+def toposort(revision_log):
+    """Perform a topological sort on a revision log graph.
+
+    Complexity: O(N) (linear in the length of the revision log)
+
+    Args:
+        revision_log: Revision log as returned by
+            swh.storage.Storage.revision_log().
+
+    Yields:
+        The revision log sorted by a topological order
+    """
+    in_degree = {}  # rev_id -> numbers of parents left to compute
+    children = collections.defaultdict(list)  # rev_id -> children
+
+    # Compute the in_degrees and the parents of all the revisions.
+    # Add the roots to the processing queue.
+    queue = collections.deque()
+    for rev in revision_log:
+        parents = rev['parents']
+        in_degree[rev['id']] = len(parents)
+        if not parents:
+            queue.append(rev)
+        for parent in parents:
+            children[parent].append(rev)
+
+    # Topological sort: yield the 'ready' nodes, decrease the in degree of
+    # their children and add the 'ready' ones to the queue.
+    while queue:
+        rev = queue.popleft()
+        yield rev
+        for child in children[rev['id']]:
+            in_degree[child['id']] -= 1
+            if in_degree[child['id']] == 0:
+                queue.append(child)