diff --git a/builtin/am.c b/builtin/am.c
index d7513f53759bc5834aa02bd904432f64e036ccb6..71619f01aab4ad8becfb7f208b95a3e6afb87632 100644
--- a/builtin/am.c
+++ b/builtin/am.c
@@ -1142,43 +1142,6 @@ static void refresh_and_write_cache(void)
 		die(_("unable to write index file"));
 }
 
-/**
- * Returns 1 if the index differs from HEAD, 0 otherwise. When on an unborn
- * branch, returns 1 if there are entries in the index, 0 otherwise. If an
- * strbuf is provided, the space-separated list of files that differ will be
- * appended to it.
- */
-static int index_has_changes(struct strbuf *sb)
-{
-	struct object_id head;
-	int i;
-
-	if (!get_oid_tree("HEAD", &head)) {
-		struct diff_options opt;
-
-		diff_setup(&opt);
-		DIFF_OPT_SET(&opt, EXIT_WITH_STATUS);
-		if (!sb)
-			DIFF_OPT_SET(&opt, QUICK);
-		do_diff_cache(&head, &opt);
-		diffcore_std(&opt);
-		for (i = 0; sb && i < diff_queued_diff.nr; i++) {
-			if (i)
-				strbuf_addch(sb, ' ');
-			strbuf_addstr(sb, diff_queued_diff.queue[i]->two->path);
-		}
-		diff_flush(&opt);
-		return DIFF_OPT_TST(&opt, HAS_CHANGES) != 0;
-	} else {
-		for (i = 0; sb && i < active_nr; i++) {
-			if (i)
-				strbuf_addch(sb, ' ');
-			strbuf_addstr(sb, active_cache[i]->name);
-		}
-		return !!active_nr;
-	}
-}
-
 /**
  * Dies with a user-friendly message on how to proceed after resolving the
  * problem. This message can be overridden with state->resolvemsg.
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 6440e2bf21f5800db98f82fcedff46478188674e..caf610d3b3b02a5949fcab1a69833d99d3651174 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -608,6 +608,15 @@ extern int write_locked_index(struct index_state *, struct lock_file *lock, unsi
 extern int discard_index(struct index_state *);
 extern void move_index_extensions(struct index_state *dst, struct index_state *src);
 extern int unmerged_index(const struct index_state *);
+
+/**
+ * Returns 1 if the index differs from HEAD, 0 otherwise. When on an unborn
+ * branch, returns 1 if there are entries in the index, 0 otherwise. If an
+ * strbuf is provided, the space-separated list of files that differ will be
+ * appended to it.
+ */
+extern int index_has_changes(struct strbuf *sb);
+
 extern int verify_path(const char *path);
 extern int strcmp_offset(const char *s1, const char *s2, size_t *first_change);
 extern int index_dir_exists(struct index_state *istate, const char *name, int namelen);
diff --git a/merge.c b/merge.c
index 1d441ad94254257ad2ac28b8a17dc0b8e5ce14f9..b0714bc85ec1b75ffb2eea1a00f20debae4df706 100644
--- a/merge.c
+++ b/merge.c
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 #include "cache.h"
+#include "diff.h"
+#include "diffcore.h"
 #include "lockfile.h"
 #include "commit.h"
 #include "run-command.h"
@@ -15,6 +17,37 @@ static const char *merge_argument(struct commit *commit)
 		return EMPTY_TREE_SHA1_HEX;
 }
 
+int index_has_changes(struct strbuf *sb)
+{
+	struct object_id head;
+	int i;
+
+	if (!get_oid_tree("HEAD", &head)) {
+		struct diff_options opt;
+
+		diff_setup(&opt);
+		DIFF_OPT_SET(&opt, EXIT_WITH_STATUS);
+		if (!sb)
+			DIFF_OPT_SET(&opt, QUICK);
+		do_diff_cache(&head, &opt);
+		diffcore_std(&opt);
+		for (i = 0; sb && i < diff_queued_diff.nr; i++) {
+			if (i)
+				strbuf_addch(sb, ' ');
+			strbuf_addstr(sb, diff_queued_diff.queue[i]->two->path);
+		}
+		diff_flush(&opt);
+		return DIFF_OPT_TST(&opt, HAS_CHANGES) != 0;
+	} else {
+		for (i = 0; sb && i < active_nr; i++) {
+			if (i)
+				strbuf_addch(sb, ' ');
+			strbuf_addstr(sb, active_cache[i]->name);
+		}
+		return !!active_nr;
+	}
+}
+
 int try_merge_command(const char *strategy, size_t xopts_nr,
 		      const char **xopts, struct commit_list *common,
 		      const char *head_arg, struct commit_list *remotes)