diff --git a/builtin/fsck.c b/builtin/fsck.c
index 8aadca160e..d42a27da89 100644
--- a/builtin/fsck.c
+++ b/builtin/fsck.c
@@ -481,11 +481,6 @@ static int fsck_handle_reflog(const char *logname, const unsigned char *sha1, in
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int is_branch(const char *refname)
-{
-	return !strcmp(refname, "HEAD") || starts_with(refname, "refs/heads/");
-}
-
 static int fsck_handle_ref(const char *refname, const unsigned char *sha1, int flag, void *cb_data)
 {
 	struct object *obj;
diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index dc761599fd..3792314f3b 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -3074,7 +3074,7 @@ static int log_ref_write(const char *refname, const unsigned char *old_sha1,
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int is_branch(const char *refname)
+int is_branch(const char *refname)
 {
 	return !strcmp(refname, "HEAD") || starts_with(refname, "refs/heads/");
 }
diff --git a/refs.h b/refs.h
index c5376cee8d..ec46acdde7 100644
--- a/refs.h
+++ b/refs.h
@@ -128,6 +128,8 @@ extern int repack_without_refs(const char **refnames, int n,
 
 extern int ref_exists(const char *);
 
+extern int is_branch(const char *refname);
+
 /*
  * If refname is a non-symbolic reference that refers to a tag object,
  * and the tag can be (recursively) dereferenced to a non-tag object,