diff --git a/builtin-merge-recursive.c b/builtin-merge-recursive.c
index 43bf6aa45e..3731853f83 100644
--- a/builtin-merge-recursive.c
+++ b/builtin-merge-recursive.c
@@ -42,14 +42,6 @@ static struct tree *shift_tree_object(struct tree *one, struct tree *two)
  * - *(int *)commit->object.sha1 set to the virtual id.
  */
 
-static unsigned commit_list_count(const struct commit_list *l)
-{
-	unsigned c = 0;
-	for (; l; l = l->next )
-		c++;
-	return c;
-}
-
 static struct commit *make_virtual_commit(struct tree *tree, const char *comment)
 {
 	struct commit *commit = xcalloc(1, sizeof(struct commit));
diff --git a/commit.c b/commit.c
index e2d8624d9c..bbf9c75416 100644
--- a/commit.c
+++ b/commit.c
@@ -325,6 +325,14 @@ struct commit_list *commit_list_insert(struct commit *item, struct commit_list *
 	return new_list;
 }
 
+unsigned commit_list_count(const struct commit_list *l)
+{
+	unsigned c = 0;
+	for (; l; l = l->next )
+		c++;
+	return c;
+}
+
 void free_commit_list(struct commit_list *list)
 {
 	while (list) {
diff --git a/commit.h b/commit.h
index 2d94d4148e..7f8c5ee0fc 100644
--- a/commit.h
+++ b/commit.h
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ int parse_commit_buffer(struct commit *item, void *buffer, unsigned long size);
 int parse_commit(struct commit *item);
 
 struct commit_list * commit_list_insert(struct commit *item, struct commit_list **list_p);
+unsigned commit_list_count(const struct commit_list *l);
 struct commit_list * insert_by_date(struct commit *item, struct commit_list **list);
 
 void free_commit_list(struct commit_list *list);