diff --git a/include/osgDB/ConvertBase64 b/include/osgDB/ConvertBase64
index b6950f94c..2e0adca94 100644
--- a/include/osgDB/ConvertBase64
+++ b/include/osgDB/ConvertBase64
@@ -52,6 +52,12 @@ namespace osgDB
         char plainchar;
     } base64_decodestate;
 
+    inline void base64_init_decodestate(base64_decodestate* state_in)
+    {
+        state_in->step = step_a;
+        state_in->plainchar = 0;
+    }
+
     class OSGDB_EXPORT Base64encoder
     {
     public:
diff --git a/src/osgDB/ConvertBase64.cpp b/src/osgDB/ConvertBase64.cpp
index 3f5c1c7e8..63f52559a 100644
--- a/src/osgDB/ConvertBase64.cpp
+++ b/src/osgDB/ConvertBase64.cpp
@@ -35,12 +35,6 @@ namespace osgDB
         return decoding[(int)value_in];
     }
 
-    void base64_init_decodestate(base64_decodestate* state_in)
-    {
-        state_in->step = step_a;
-        state_in->plainchar = 0;
-    }
-
     int base64_decode_block(const char* code_in, const int length_in, char* plaintext_out, base64_decodestate* state_in)
     {
         const char* codechar = code_in;