diff --git a/src/utils.cpp b/src/utils.cpp
index 55b029fc0d..4c299eec15 100644
--- a/src/utils.cpp
+++ b/src/utils.cpp
@@ -604,7 +604,7 @@ void utils::bounds(const char *file, int line, const std::string &str,
 {
   nlo = nhi = -1;
 
-  // check for illegal charcters
+  // check for illegal characters
   size_t found = str.find_first_not_of("*-0123456789");
   if (found != std::string::npos) {
     if (error) error->all(file, line, "Invalid range string: {}", str);
@@ -647,6 +647,30 @@ template void utils::bounds<>(const char *, int, const std::string &,
                               bigint, bigint, long &, long &, Error *);
 template void utils::bounds<>(const char *, int, const std::string &,
                               bigint, bigint, long long &, long long &, Error *);
+
+/* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+   wrapper for bounds() that accepts type label input
+------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+template <typename TYPE>
+void utils::bounds_typelabel(const char *file, int line, const std::string &str, bigint nmin,
+                             bigint nmax, TYPE &nlo, TYPE &nhi, Error *error, LAMMPS *lmp, int mode)
+{
+  nlo = nhi = -1;
+  char *typestr;
+  if ( typestr = utils::expand_type(FLERR, str, mode, lmp) )
+    nlo = nhi = utils::inumeric(FLERR, typestr, false, lmp);
+  delete[] typestr;
+  if (nlo > -1) return;
+  else utils::bounds(file, line, str, nmin, nmax, nlo, nhi, error);
+}
+
+template void utils::bounds_typelabel<>(const char *, int, const std::string &,
+                                        bigint, bigint, int &, int &, Error *, LAMMPS *, int);
+template void utils::bounds_typelabel<>(const char *, int, const std::string &,
+                                        bigint, bigint, long &, long &, Error *, LAMMPS *, int);
+template void utils::bounds_typelabel<>(const char *, int, const std::string &,
+                                        bigint, bigint, long long &, long long &, Error *, LAMMPS *, int);
 // clang-format on
 
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/utils.h b/src/utils.h
index 383927ad34..01264bdb8e 100644
--- a/src/utils.h
+++ b/src/utils.h
@@ -331,6 +331,19 @@ namespace utils {
   void bounds(const char *file, int line, const std::string &str, bigint nmin, bigint nmax,
               TYPE &nlo, TYPE &nhi, Error *error);
 
+  /*! Same as bounds(), but supports type labels
+   *
+   * This functions adds the following case:
+   *
+   * - a single type label, typestr: nlo = nhi = label2type(typestr)
+   *
+   * \param lmp      pointer to top-level LAMMPS class instance
+   * \param mode     select labelmap using constants from Atom class */
+
+  template <typename TYPE>
+  void bounds_typelabel(const char *file, int line, const std::string &str, bigint nmin, bigint nmax,
+                        TYPE &nlo, TYPE &nhi, Error *error, LAMMPS *lmp, int mode);
+
   /*! Expand list of arguments when containing fix/compute wildcards
    *
    *  This function searches the list of arguments in *arg* for strings