diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index f073b1ecf5..b8ecfa5d95 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -896,7 +896,7 @@ struct ref *alloc_ref(const char *name)
 	return alloc_ref_with_prefix("", 0, name);
 }
 
-static struct ref *copy_ref(const struct ref *ref)
+struct ref *copy_ref(const struct ref *ref)
 {
 	struct ref *cpy;
 	size_t len;
diff --git a/remote.h b/remote.h
index 888d7c15de..9a30a9dba6 100644
--- a/remote.h
+++ b/remote.h
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ struct refspec {
 extern const struct refspec *tag_refspec;
 
 struct ref *alloc_ref(const char *name);
-
+struct ref *copy_ref(const struct ref *ref);
 struct ref *copy_ref_list(const struct ref *ref);
 
 int check_ref_type(const struct ref *ref, int flags);