diff --git a/src/develop/imageop.c b/src/develop/imageop.c
index f43a40b7b5b5..c5fc006425c2 100644
--- a/src/develop/imageop.c
+++ b/src/develop/imageop.c
@@ -2310,6 +2310,15 @@ static gboolean _presets_scroll_callback(GtkWidget *widget,
   return TRUE;
 }
 
+gboolean dt_iop_has_focus(dt_iop_module_t *module)
+{
+  return module
+        && module->dev
+        && module->dev->gui_attached
+        && module == module->dev->gui_module
+        && dt_dev_modulegroups_test_activated(darktable.develop);
+}
+
 void dt_iop_request_focus(dt_iop_module_t *module)
 {
   dt_develop_t *dev = darktable.develop;
diff --git a/src/develop/imageop.h b/src/develop/imageop.h
index c78fa5c7244a..4e2f627e21c8 100644
--- a/src/develop/imageop.h
+++ b/src/develop/imageop.h
@@ -412,6 +412,8 @@ GtkWidget *dt_iop_gui_header_button(dt_iop_module_t *module,
 
 /** requests the focus for this plugin (to draw overlays over the center image) */
 void dt_iop_request_focus(dt_iop_module_t *module);
+/** returns TRUE if tested module has focus */
+gboolean dt_iop_has_focus(dt_iop_module_t *module);
 /** allocate and load default settings from introspection. */
 void dt_iop_default_init(dt_iop_module_t *module);
 /** loads default settings from database. */
diff --git a/src/iop/ashift.c b/src/iop/ashift.c
index c22cb6e70aba..4d74fa7097d7 100644
--- a/src/iop/ashift.c
+++ b/src/iop/ashift.c
@@ -4054,13 +4054,6 @@ static gboolean _get_points(dt_iop_module_t *self,
   return FALSE;
 }
 
-// does this gui have focus?
-static gboolean _gui_has_focus(dt_iop_module_t *self)
-{
-  return (self->dev->gui_module == self
-          && dt_dev_modulegroups_test_activated(darktable.develop));
-}
-
 /* this function replaces this sentence, it calls distort_transform()
    for this module on the pipe
    if(!dt_dev_distort_transform_plus(self->dev, self->dev->preview_pipe,
@@ -4154,7 +4147,7 @@ void gui_post_expose(dt_iop_module_t *self,
 
   // we draw the cropping area; we need x_off/y_off/width/height which is only available
   // after g->buf has been processed
-  if(g->buf && self->enabled && _gui_has_focus(self))
+  if(g->buf && self->enabled && dt_iop_has_focus(self))
   {
     // roi data of the preview pipe input buffer
 
@@ -4354,7 +4347,7 @@ void gui_post_expose(dt_iop_module_t *self,
   if(g->fitting) return;
 
   // no structural data or visibility switched off? -> stop here
-  if(g->lines == NULL || !_gui_has_focus(self)) return;
+  if(g->lines == NULL || !dt_iop_has_focus(self)) return;
 
   // get hash value that reflects distortions from here to the end of the pixelpipe
   const dt_hash_t hash = dt_dev_hash_distort_plus(dev,
@@ -5630,7 +5623,7 @@ void commit_params(dt_iop_module_t *self,
   d->orthocorr = (p->mode == ASHIFT_MODE_GENERIC) ? 0.0f : p->orthocorr;
   d->aspect = (p->mode == ASHIFT_MODE_GENERIC) ? 1.0f : p->aspect;
 
-  if(_gui_has_focus(self)
+  if(dt_iop_has_focus(self)
      || dt_isnan(p->cl)
      || dt_isnan(p->cr)
      || dt_isnan(p->ct)
diff --git a/src/iop/clipping.c b/src/iop/clipping.c
index 83cba2e4dcb7..13fcc7b550dd 100644
--- a/src/iop/clipping.c
+++ b/src/iop/clipping.c
@@ -391,12 +391,6 @@ dt_iop_colorspace_type_t default_colorspace(dt_iop_module_t *self,
   return IOP_CS_RGB;
 }
 
-static int gui_has_focus(dt_iop_module_t *self)
-{
-  return (self->dev->gui_module == self
-          && dt_dev_modulegroups_test_activated(darktable.develop));
-}
-
 static void keystone_get_matrix(const dt_boundingbox_t k_space, float kxa, float kxb, float kxc, float kxd, float kya,
                                 float kyb, float kyc, float kyd, float *a, float *b, float *d, float *e,
                                 float *g, float *h)
@@ -1328,7 +1322,7 @@ void commit_params(dt_iop_module_t *self, dt_iop_params_t *p1, dt_dev_pixelpipe_
     d->k_apply = 0;
   }
 
-  if(gui_has_focus(self))
+  if(dt_iop_has_focus(self))
   {
     d->cx = 0.0f;
     d->cy = 0.0f;
diff --git a/src/iop/colorequal.c b/src/iop/colorequal.c
index c528a7d4d446..ca9e3c8e7330 100644
--- a/src/iop/colorequal.c
+++ b/src/iop/colorequal.c
@@ -2537,7 +2537,7 @@ static gboolean _iop_colorequalizer_draw(GtkWidget *widget,
 
   dt_free_align(g->LUT);
 
-  if(self->enabled && (self == self->dev->gui_module) && g->picking)
+  if(self->enabled && dt_iop_has_focus(self) && g->picking)
     _draw_color_picker(self, cr, p, g, (double)graph_width, (double)graph_height);
 
   cairo_restore(cr);
diff --git a/src/iop/crop.c b/src/iop/crop.c
index 07e065c8a32a..4a500d614cb1 100644
--- a/src/iop/crop.c
+++ b/src/iop/crop.c
@@ -166,12 +166,6 @@ dt_iop_colorspace_type_t default_colorspace(dt_iop_module_t *self,
   return IOP_CS_RGB;
 }
 
-static int _gui_has_focus(dt_iop_module_t *self)
-{
-  return (self->dev->gui_module == self
-          && dt_dev_modulegroups_test_activated(darktable.develop));
-}
-
 static void _commit_box(dt_iop_module_t *self,
                         dt_iop_crop_gui_data_t *g,
                         dt_iop_crop_params_t *p)
@@ -421,7 +415,7 @@ void commit_params(dt_iop_module_t *self,
   dt_iop_crop_params_t *p = (dt_iop_crop_params_t *)p1;
   dt_iop_crop_data_t *d = piece->data;
 
-  if(_gui_has_focus(self) && (pipe->type & DT_DEV_PIXELPIPE_BASIC))
+  if(dt_iop_has_focus(self) && (pipe->type & DT_DEV_PIXELPIPE_BASIC))
   {
     d->cx = 0.0f;
     d->cy = 0.0f;