diff --git a/include/linuxdeploy/util/misc.h b/include/linuxdeploy/util/misc.h
index 6b38eb2..1db862c 100644
--- a/include/linuxdeploy/util/misc.h
+++ b/include/linuxdeploy/util/misc.h
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #pragma once
 
+// system headers
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <climits>
 #include <cstring>
@@ -8,6 +9,9 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <vector>
 
+// libraries
+#include <boost/filesystem.hpp>
+
 namespace linuxdeploy {
     namespace util {
         namespace misc {
@@ -87,6 +91,33 @@ namespace linuxdeploy {
 
                 return buf.data();
             }
+
+            // very simple but for our purposes good enough which like algorithm to find binaries in $PATH
+            static boost::filesystem::path which(const std::string& name) {
+                const auto* path = getenv("PATH");
+
+                namespace bf = boost::filesystem;
+
+                if (path == nullptr)
+                    return "";
+
+                for (const auto& binDir : split(path, ':')) {
+                    if (!bf::is_directory(binDir)) {
+                        continue;
+                    }
+
+                    for (bf::directory_iterator it(binDir); it != bf::directory_iterator{}; ++it) {
+                        const auto binary = it->path();
+
+                        if (binary.filename() == name) {
+                            // TODO: check if file is executable (skip otherwise)
+                            return binary;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+
+                return {};
+            };
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/core/copyright/copyright.cpp b/src/core/copyright/copyright.cpp
index e9481c9..1bf5596 100644
--- a/src/core/copyright/copyright.cpp
+++ b/src/core/copyright/copyright.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 // local includes
 #include "linuxdeploy/core/log.h"
+#include "linuxdeploy/util/util.h"
 #include "copyright.h"
 
 // specializations
@@ -11,36 +12,7 @@ namespace linuxdeploy {
             using namespace log;
 
             std::shared_ptr<ICopyrightFilesManager> ICopyrightFilesManager::getInstance() {
-                // very simple but for our purposes good enough which like algorithm to find binaries in $PATH
-                // TODO: move into separate function to be used in the entire code base
-                // FIXME: remove dependency on subprocess library
-                static const auto which = [](const std::string& name) -> bf::path {
-                    const auto* path = getenv("PATH");
-
-                    if (path == nullptr)
-                        return "";
-
-                    for (const auto& binDir : subprocess::util::split(path, ":")) {
-                        if (!bf::is_directory(binDir)) {
-                            continue;
-                        }
-
-                        for (bf::directory_iterator it(binDir); it != bf::directory_iterator{}; ++it) {
-                            const auto binary = it->path();
-
-                            std::cout << binary << std::endl;
-
-                            if (binary.filename() == name) {
-                                // TODO: check if file is executable (skip otherwise)
-                                return binary;
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-
-                    return {};
-                };
-
-                if (!which("dpkg-query").empty()) {
+                if (!util::which("dpkg-query").empty()) {
                     ldLog() << LD_DEBUG << "Using dpkg-query to search for copyright files" << std::endl;
                     return std::make_shared<DpkgQueryCopyrightFilesManager>();
                 }