diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 9a4b538f3..4d4271604 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ Change Log
   - Added extract_file_from_zip to zip_utils.
   - Added http_utils with download function.
   - Added get_app_specific_directory, get_os_name, and get_cpu_architecture_name to misc_utils.
-  - Added normalize_file_path and are_files_equal to file_utils.
+  - Added normalize_file_path, are_files_equal, and create_random_file to file_utils.
   - Added create_temporary_file_name and remove_temporary_file tmpfile_utils.
   - Minor fix to misc_utils.create_dict (do not create property only if its value is None).
 
diff --git a/dcicutils/file_utils.py b/dcicutils/file_utils.py
index 1cd62da6f..a1bd0def5 100644
--- a/dcicutils/file_utils.py
+++ b/dcicutils/file_utils.py
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 import glob
 import os
 import pathlib
+import random
+import string
 from typing import List, Optional, Union
+from dcicutils.tmpfile_utils import create_temporary_file_name
 
 
 def search_for_file(file: str,
@@ -96,3 +99,16 @@ def are_files_equal(filea: str, fileb: str) -> bool:
         return True
     except Exception:
         return False
+
+
+def create_random_file(file: Optional[str] = None,
+                       prefix: Optional[str] = None, suffix: Optional[str] = None,
+                       nbytes: int = 1024, binary: bool = False) -> str:
+    if not file:
+        file = create_temporary_file_name(prefix=prefix, suffix=suffix)
+    with open(file, "wb" if binary is True else "w") as f:
+        if binary is True:
+            f.write(os.urandom(nbytes))
+        else:
+            f.write(''.join(random.choices(string.ascii_letters + string.digits, k=nbytes)))
+    return file
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 70517487e..65a60a7e6 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "dcicutils"
-version = "8.8.4.1b8"  # TODO: To become 8.8.5
+version = "8.8.4.1b9"  # TODO: To become 8.8.5
 description = "Utility package for interacting with the 4DN Data Portal and other 4DN resources"
 authors = ["4DN-DCIC Team <support@4dnucleome.org>"]
 license = "MIT"