diff --git a/src/libexpr/attr-set.cc b/src/libexpr/attr-set.cc
index 0474865c6..0785897d2 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/attr-set.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/attr-set.cc
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #include "attr-set.hh"
-#include "eval.hh"
+#include "eval-inline.hh"
 
 #include <algorithm>
 
@@ -7,20 +7,6 @@
 namespace nix {
 
 
-/* Note: Various places expect the allocated memory to be zeroed. */
-static void * allocBytes(size_t n)
-{
-    void * p;
-#if HAVE_BOEHMGC
-    p = GC_malloc(n);
-#else
-    p = calloc(n, 1);
-#endif
-    if (!p) throw std::bad_alloc();
-    return p;
-}
-
-
 /* Allocate a new array of attributes for an attribute set with a specific
    capacity. The space is implicitly reserved after the Bindings
    structure. */
diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval-inline.hh b/src/libexpr/eval-inline.hh
index 8cc50e561..ad172c37c 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval-inline.hh
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval-inline.hh
@@ -78,4 +78,18 @@ inline void EvalState::forceList(Value & v, const Pos & pos)
         throwTypeError("value is %1% while a list was expected, at %2%", v, pos);
 }
 
+/* Note: Various places expect the allocated memory to be zeroed. */
+inline void * allocBytes(size_t n)
+{
+    void * p;
+#if HAVE_BOEHMGC
+    p = GC_malloc(n);
+#else
+    p = calloc(n, 1);
+#endif
+    if (!p) throw std::bad_alloc();
+    return p;
+}
+
+
 }
diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.cc b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
index 517952164..01658aa25 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
@@ -43,20 +43,6 @@ static char * dupString(const char * s)
 }
 
 
-/* Note: Various places expect the allocated memory to be zeroed. */
-static void * allocBytes(size_t n)
-{
-    void * p;
-#if HAVE_BOEHMGC
-    p = GC_malloc(n);
-#else
-    p = calloc(n, 1);
-#endif
-    if (!p) throw std::bad_alloc();
-    return p;
-}
-
-
 static void printValue(std::ostream & str, std::set<const Value *> & active, const Value & v)
 {
     checkInterrupt();