diff --git a/internal/consensus/state.go b/internal/consensus/state.go
index c6ffb031e..13ef3ff07 100644
--- a/internal/consensus/state.go
+++ b/internal/consensus/state.go
@@ -2022,7 +2022,7 @@ func (cs *State) RecordMetrics(height int64, block *types.Block) {
 
 		for i, val := range cs.LastValidators.Validators {
 			commitSig := block.LastCommit.Signatures[i]
-			if commitSig.Absent() {
+			if commitSig.BlockIDFlag == types.BlockIDFlagAbsent {
 				missingValidators++
 				missingValidatorsPower += val.VotingPower
 			}
diff --git a/internal/state/execution.go b/internal/state/execution.go
index ea4806c36..fa45b657b 100644
--- a/internal/state/execution.go
+++ b/internal/state/execution.go
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ func buildLastCommitInfo(block *types.Block, store Store, initialHeight int64) a
 		commitSig := block.LastCommit.Signatures[i]
 		votes[i] = abci.VoteInfo{
 			Validator:       types.TM2PB.Validator(val),
-			SignedLastBlock: !commitSig.Absent(),
+			SignedLastBlock: commitSig.BlockIDFlag != types.BlockIDFlagAbsent,
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/types/block.go b/types/block.go
index e2354479b..9f907d559 100644
--- a/types/block.go
+++ b/types/block.go
@@ -622,11 +622,6 @@ func NewCommitSigAbsent() CommitSig {
 	}
 }
 
-// Absent returns true if CommitSig is absent.
-func (cs CommitSig) Absent() bool {
-	return cs.BlockIDFlag == BlockIDFlagAbsent
-}
-
 // CommitSig returns a string representation of CommitSig.
 //
 // 1. first 6 bytes of signature
diff --git a/types/validation.go b/types/validation.go
index a422f72ab..02d1b0b56 100644
--- a/types/validation.go
+++ b/types/validation.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func VerifyCommit(chainID string, vals *ValidatorSet, blockID BlockID,
 	votingPowerNeeded := vals.TotalVotingPower() * 2 / 3
 
 	// ignore all absent signatures
-	ignore := func(c CommitSig) bool { return c.Absent() }
+	ignore := func(c CommitSig) bool { return c.BlockIDFlag == BlockIDFlagAbsent }
 
 	// only count the signatures that are for the block
 	count := func(c CommitSig) bool { return c.BlockIDFlag == BlockIDFlagCommit }