diff --git a/shared/util.c b/shared/util.c
index 7a1f3ee..5d05c01 100644
--- a/shared/util.c
+++ b/shared/util.c
@@ -369,13 +369,6 @@ char *freadline_wrapped(FILE *fp, unsigned int *linenum)
 /* path handling functions                                                  */
 /* ************************************************************************ */
 
-static bool path_is_absolute(const char *p)
-{
-	assert(p != NULL);
-
-	return p[0] == '/';
-}
-
 char *path_make_absolute_cwd(const char *p)
 {
 	_cleanup_free_ char *cwd = NULL;
diff --git a/shared/util.h b/shared/util.h
index 65d90db..58431ba 100644
--- a/shared/util.h
+++ b/shared/util.h
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ _nonnull_(1) char *freadline_wrapped(FILE *fp, unsigned int *linenum);
 /* path handling functions                                                  */
 /* ************************************************************************ */
 _must_check_ _nonnull_all_ char *path_make_absolute_cwd(const char *p);
+static inline _must_check_ _nonnull_all_ bool path_is_absolute(const char *p)
+{
+	return p[0] == '/';
+}
+
 int mkdir_p(const char *path, int len, mode_t mode);
 int mkdir_parents(const char *path, mode_t mode);
 unsigned long long stat_mstamp(const struct stat *st);