diff --git a/include/git2/object.h b/include/git2/object.h
index e029f0125..b91b04dba 100644
--- a/include/git2/object.h
+++ b/include/git2/object.h
@@ -188,6 +188,15 @@ GIT_EXTERN(int) git_object_peel(
 	const git_object *object,
 	git_otype target_type);
 
+/**
+ * Create an in-memory copy of a Git object. The copy must be
+ * explicitly free'd or it will leak.
+ *
+ * @param dest Pointer to store the copy of the object
+ * @param source Original object to copy
+ */
+GIT_EXTERN(int) git_object_dup(git_object **dest, git_object *source);
+
 /** @} */
 GIT_END_DECL
 
diff --git a/src/iterator.c b/src/iterator.c
index 805a3c987..5b5ed9525 100644
--- a/src/iterator.c
+++ b/src/iterator.c
@@ -578,7 +578,7 @@ int git_iterator_for_tree(
 	if (tree == NULL)
 		return git_iterator_for_nothing(iter, flags, start, end);
 
-	if ((error = git_tree__dup(&tree, tree)) < 0)
+	if ((error = git_object_dup((git_object **)&tree, (git_object *)tree)) < 0)
 		return error;
 
 	ITERATOR_BASE_INIT(ti, tree, TREE, git_tree_owner(tree));
diff --git a/src/object.c b/src/object.c
index f59e4c7da..80fe51152 100644
--- a/src/object.c
+++ b/src/object.c
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ int git_object_peel(
 	assert(object && peeled);
 
 	if (git_object_type(object) == target_type)
-		return git_object__dup(peeled, (git_object *)object);
+		return git_object_dup(peeled, (git_object *)object);
 
 	source = (git_object *)object;
 
@@ -396,3 +396,9 @@ int git_object_peel(
 	return error;
 }
 
+int git_object_dup(git_object **dest, git_object *source)
+{
+	git_cached_obj_incref(source);
+	*dest = source;
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/src/object.h b/src/object.h
index 8788caba6..c1e50593c 100644
--- a/src/object.h
+++ b/src/object.h
@@ -17,13 +17,6 @@ struct git_object {
 /* fully free the object; internal method, DO NOT EXPORT */
 void git_object__free(void *object);
 
-GIT_INLINE(int) git_object__dup(git_object **dest, git_object *source)
-{
-	git_cached_obj_incref(source);
-	*dest = source;
-	return 0;
-}
-
 int git_object__from_odb_object(
 	git_object **object_out,
 	git_repository *repo,
diff --git a/src/refs.c b/src/refs.c
index dde2f51a9..b1f679632 100644
--- a/src/refs.c
+++ b/src/refs.c
@@ -934,7 +934,7 @@ int git_reference_peel(
 	}
 
 	if (target_type == GIT_OBJ_ANY && git_object_type(target) != GIT_OBJ_TAG)
-		error = git_object__dup(peeled, target);
+		error = git_object_dup(peeled, target);
 	else
 		error = git_object_peel(peeled, target, target_type);
 
diff --git a/src/revparse.c b/src/revparse.c
index 2ba29383e..b1eb51b41 100644
--- a/src/revparse.c
+++ b/src/revparse.c
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ static int dereference_to_non_tag(git_object **out, git_object *obj)
 	if (git_object_type(obj) == GIT_OBJ_TAG)
 		return git_tag_peel(out, (git_tag *)obj);
 
-	return git_object__dup(out, obj);
+	return git_object_dup(out, obj);
 }
 
 static int handle_caret_parent_syntax(git_object **out, git_object *obj, int n)
diff --git a/src/tree.h b/src/tree.h
index 567b5842d..b77bfd961 100644
--- a/src/tree.h
+++ b/src/tree.h
@@ -30,11 +30,6 @@ struct git_treebuilder {
 	size_t entrycount; /* vector may contain "removed" entries */
 };
 
-GIT_INLINE(int) git_tree__dup(git_tree **dest, git_tree *source)
-{
-	return git_object__dup((git_object **)dest, (git_object *)source);
-}
-
 GIT_INLINE(bool) git_tree_entry__is_tree(const struct git_tree_entry *e)
 {
 	return (S_ISDIR(e->attr) && !S_ISGITLINK(e->attr));