diff --git a/include/opendht/utils.h b/include/opendht/utils.h
index 3c4a7bd3..69707cea 100644
--- a/include/opendht/utils.h
+++ b/include/opendht/utils.h
@@ -172,13 +172,17 @@ packMsg(const Type& t)
 
 template<typename Type>
 Type
-unpackMsg(Blob b)
+unpackMsg(const Blob& b)
 {
     msgpack::unpacked msg_res = msgpack::unpack((const char*) b.data(), b.size());
     return msg_res.get().as<Type>();
 }
 
-msgpack::unpacked unpackMsg(Blob b);
+inline msgpack::unpacked
+unpackMsg(const Blob& b)
+{
+    return msgpack::unpack((const char*) b.data(), b.size());
+}
 
 msgpack::object* findMapValue(const msgpack::object& map, const char* key, size_t length);
 
diff --git a/src/utils.cpp b/src/utils.cpp
index 56e05e22..a28a2735 100644
--- a/src/utils.cpp
+++ b/src/utils.cpp
@@ -282,12 +282,6 @@ unpackBlob(const msgpack::object& o)
     }
 }
 
-msgpack::unpacked
-unpackMsg(Blob b)
-{
-    return msgpack::unpack((const char*) b.data(), b.size());
-}
-
 msgpack::object*
 findMapValue(const msgpack::object& map, const char* key, size_t key_length)
 {