diff --git a/emacs/notmuch-show.el b/emacs/notmuch-show.el
index 2c6c89e9..529baa97 100644
--- a/emacs/notmuch-show.el
+++ b/emacs/notmuch-show.el
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
 (declare-function notmuch-save-attachments "notmuch" (mm-handle &optional queryp))
 (declare-function notmuch-tree "notmuch-tree"
 		  (&optional query query-context target buffer-name open-target))
+(declare-function notmuch-tree-get-message-properties "notmuch-tree" nil)
 
 (defcustom notmuch-message-headers '("Subject" "To" "Cc" "Date")
   "Headers that should be shown in a message, in this order.
@@ -1474,8 +1475,17 @@ an error if there is no part containing point."
     (notmuch-show-set-message-properties props)))
 
 (defun notmuch-show-get-prop (prop &optional props)
+  "Get property PROP from current message in show or tree mode.
+
+It gets property PROP from PROPS or, if PROPS is nil, the current
+message in either tree or show. This means that several utility
+functions in notmuch-show can be used directly by notmuch-tree as
+they just need the correct message properties."
   (let ((props (or props
-		   (notmuch-show-get-message-properties))))
+		   (cond ((eq major-mode 'notmuch-show-mode)
+			  (notmuch-show-get-message-properties))
+			 ((eq major-mode 'notmuch-tree-mode)
+			  (notmuch-tree-get-message-properties))))))
     (plist-get props prop)))
 
 (defun notmuch-show-get-message-id (&optional bare)
diff --git a/emacs/notmuch-tree.el b/emacs/notmuch-tree.el
index e9249da1..e859cc24 100644
--- a/emacs/notmuch-tree.el
+++ b/emacs/notmuch-tree.el
@@ -290,22 +290,6 @@ Some useful entries are:
     (beginning-of-line)
     (get-text-property (point) :notmuch-message-properties)))
 
-;; XXX This should really be a lib function but we are trying to
-;; reduce impact on the code base.
-(defun notmuch-show-get-prop (prop &optional props)
-  "This is a tree view overridden version of notmuch-show-get-prop
-
-It gets property PROP from PROPS or, if PROPS is nil, the current
-message in either tree or show. This means that several functions
-in notmuch-show now work unchanged in tree as they just need the
-correct message properties."
-  (let ((props (or props
-		   (cond ((eq major-mode 'notmuch-show-mode)
-			  (notmuch-show-get-message-properties))
-			 ((eq major-mode 'notmuch-tree-mode)
-			  (notmuch-tree-get-message-properties))))))
-    (plist-get props prop)))
-
 (defun notmuch-tree-set-message-properties (props)
   (save-excursion
     (beginning-of-line)