diff --git a/src/core/window-private.h b/src/core/window-private.h
index 485a68348..67fe4d195 100644
--- a/src/core/window-private.h
+++ b/src/core/window-private.h
@@ -461,8 +461,6 @@ void        meta_window_update_fullscreen_monitors (MetaWindow    *window,
                                                     unsigned long  left,
                                                     unsigned long  right);
 
-gboolean meta_window_appears_focused (MetaWindow *window);
-
 /* args to move are window pos, not frame pos */
 void        meta_window_move               (MetaWindow  *window,
                                             gboolean     user_op,
diff --git a/src/core/window.c b/src/core/window.c
index 8fd342cae..30bdeda21 100644
--- a/src/core/window.c
+++ b/src/core/window.c
@@ -9275,9 +9275,22 @@ transient_has_focus (MetaWindow *window,
   return FALSE;
 }
 
+/**
+ * meta_window_appears_focused:
+ * @window: a #MetaWindow
+ *
+ * Determines if the window should be drawn with a focused appearance. This is
+ * true for focused windows but also true for windows with a focused modal
+ * dialog attached.
+ *
+ * Return value: %TRUE if the window should be drawn with a focused frame
+ */
 gboolean
 meta_window_appears_focused (MetaWindow *window)
 {
+  /* FIXME: meta_window_foreach_transient() iterates over all windows; we
+   *  should eat the complexity to cache a bit for this.
+   */
   if (!window->has_focus && meta_prefs_get_attach_modal_dialogs ())
     {
       gboolean focus = FALSE;
diff --git a/src/include/window.h b/src/include/window.h
index 8cdcd18e8..b3d3c4cf3 100644
--- a/src/include/window.h
+++ b/src/include/window.h
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ GType meta_window_get_type (void);
 
 MetaFrame *meta_window_get_frame (MetaWindow *window);
 gboolean meta_window_has_focus (MetaWindow *window);
+gboolean meta_window_appears_focused (MetaWindow *window);
 gboolean meta_window_is_shaded (MetaWindow *window);
 gboolean meta_window_is_override_redirect (MetaWindow *window);
 gboolean meta_window_is_skip_taskbar (MetaWindow *window);