diff --git a/builtin/game/misc.lua b/builtin/game/misc.lua
index d8f7a638..8b37dcc5 100644
--- a/builtin/game/misc.lua
+++ b/builtin/game/misc.lua
@@ -148,6 +148,49 @@ function core.record_protection_violation(pos, name)
 	end
 end
 
+-- Checks if specified volume intersects a protected volume
+-- Backport from Minetest 5.0
+
+function core.intersects_protection(minp, maxp, player_name, interval)
+	-- 'interval' is the largest allowed interval for the 3D lattice of checks.
+
+	-- Compute the optimal float step 'd' for each axis so that all corners and
+	-- borders are checked. 'd' will be smaller or equal to 'interval'.
+	-- Subtracting 1e-4 ensures that the max co-ordinate will be reached by the
+	-- for loop (which might otherwise not be the case due to rounding errors).
+
+	-- Default to 4
+	interval = interval or 4
+	local d = {}
+
+	for _, c in pairs({"x", "y", "z"}) do
+		if maxp[c] > minp[c] then
+			d[c] = (maxp[c] - minp[c]) /
+				math.ceil((maxp[c] - minp[c]) / interval) - 1e-4
+		elseif maxp[c] == minp[c] then
+			d[c] = 1 -- Any value larger than 0 to avoid division by zero
+		else -- maxp[c] < minp[c], print error and treat as protection intersected
+			minetest.log("error", "maxp < minp in 'minetest.intersects_protection()'")
+			return true
+		end
+	end
+
+	for zf = minp.z, maxp.z, d.z do
+		local z = math.floor(zf + 0.5)
+		for yf = minp.y, maxp.y, d.y do
+			local y = math.floor(yf + 0.5)
+			for xf = minp.x, maxp.x, d.x do
+				local x = math.floor(xf + 0.5)
+				if core.is_protected({x = x, y = y, z = z}, player_name) then
+					return true
+				end
+			end
+		end
+	end
+
+	return false
+end
+
 local raillike_ids = {}
 local raillike_cur_id = 0
 function core.raillike_group(name)
@@ -186,4 +229,3 @@ end
 function core.cancel_shutdown_requests()
 	core.request_shutdown("", false, -1)
 end
-