diff --git a/shared/nm-utils/nm-dedup-multi.c b/shared/nm-utils/nm-dedup-multi.c
index 51a866abca..a1b6da114d 100644
--- a/shared/nm-utils/nm-dedup-multi.c
+++ b/shared/nm-utils/nm-dedup-multi.c
@@ -871,22 +871,6 @@ nm_dedup_multi_index_obj_intern (NMDedupMultiIndex *self,
 	return obj_new;
 }
 
-const NMDedupMultiObj *
-nm_dedup_multi_obj_ref (const NMDedupMultiObj *obj)
-{
-	/* ref and unref accept const pointers. Objects is supposed to be shared
-	 * and kept immutable. Disallowing to take/retrun a reference to a const
-	 * NMPObject is cumbersome, because callers are precisely expected to
-	 * keep a ref on the otherwise immutable object. */
-
-	nm_assert (obj);
-	nm_assert (obj->_ref_count != NM_OBJ_REF_COUNT_STACKINIT);
-	nm_assert (obj->_ref_count > 0);
-
-	((NMDedupMultiObj *) obj)->_ref_count++;
-	return obj;
-}
-
 const NMDedupMultiObj *
 nm_dedup_multi_obj_unref (const NMDedupMultiObj *obj)
 {
diff --git a/shared/nm-utils/nm-dedup-multi.h b/shared/nm-utils/nm-dedup-multi.h
index 387ab98e78..ecce791d42 100644
--- a/shared/nm-utils/nm-dedup-multi.h
+++ b/shared/nm-utils/nm-dedup-multi.h
@@ -78,7 +78,22 @@ struct _NMDedupMultiObjClass {
 
 /*****************************************************************************/
 
-const NMDedupMultiObj *nm_dedup_multi_obj_ref         (const NMDedupMultiObj *obj);
+static inline const NMDedupMultiObj *
+nm_dedup_multi_obj_ref (const NMDedupMultiObj *obj)
+{
+	/* ref and unref accept const pointers. Objects is supposed to be shared
+	 * and kept immutable. Disallowing to take/retrun a reference to a const
+	 * NMPObject is cumbersome, because callers are precisely expected to
+	 * keep a ref on the otherwise immutable object. */
+
+	nm_assert (obj);
+	nm_assert (obj->_ref_count != NM_OBJ_REF_COUNT_STACKINIT);
+	nm_assert (obj->_ref_count > 0);
+
+	((NMDedupMultiObj *) obj)->_ref_count++;
+	return obj;
+}
+
 const NMDedupMultiObj *nm_dedup_multi_obj_unref       (const NMDedupMultiObj *obj);
 const NMDedupMultiObj *nm_dedup_multi_obj_clone       (const NMDedupMultiObj *obj);
 gboolean               nm_dedup_multi_obj_needs_clone (const NMDedupMultiObj *obj);