diff --git a/mm/internal.h b/mm/internal.h
index 66d7ddf7e211..ec55da813c13 100644
--- a/mm/internal.h
+++ b/mm/internal.h
@@ -208,11 +208,6 @@ extern char * const zone_names[MAX_NR_ZONES];
 /* perform sanity checks on struct pages being allocated or freed */
 DECLARE_STATIC_KEY_MAYBE(CONFIG_DEBUG_VM, check_pages_enabled);
 
-static inline bool is_check_pages_enabled(void)
-{
-	return static_branch_unlikely(&check_pages_enabled);
-}
-
 extern int min_free_kbytes;
 
 void setup_per_zone_wmarks(void);
diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index d19a05264125..ee23ba9c0ca7 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -983,6 +983,11 @@ static inline bool free_page_is_bad(struct page *page)
 	return true;
 }
 
+static inline bool is_check_pages_enabled(void)
+{
+	return static_branch_unlikely(&check_pages_enabled);
+}
+
 static int free_tail_page_prepare(struct page *head_page, struct page *page)
 {
 	struct folio *folio = (struct folio *)head_page;
@@ -994,7 +999,7 @@ static int free_tail_page_prepare(struct page *head_page, struct page *page)
 	 */
 	BUILD_BUG_ON((unsigned long)LIST_POISON1 & 1);
 
-	if (!static_branch_unlikely(&check_pages_enabled)) {
+	if (!is_check_pages_enabled()) {
 		ret = 0;
 		goto out;
 	}