diff --git a/reflect/Fusion.cs b/reflect/Fusion.cs
index 5375a7da..7c5b19fd 100644
--- a/reflect/Fusion.cs
+++ b/reflect/Fusion.cs
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ namespace IKVM.Reflection
 		[DllImport("fusion", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
 		private static extern int CompareAssemblyIdentity(string pwzAssemblyIdentity1, bool fUnified1, string pwzAssemblyIdentity2, bool fUnified2, out bool pfEquivalent, out AssemblyComparisonResult pResult);
 
-		private static bool CompareAssemblyIdentityPure(string assemblyIdentity1, bool unified1, string assemblyIdentity2, bool unified2, out AssemblyComparisonResult result)
+		// internal for use by mcs
+		internal static bool CompareAssemblyIdentityPure(string assemblyIdentity1, bool unified1, string assemblyIdentity2, bool unified2, out AssemblyComparisonResult result)
 		{
 			ParsedAssemblyName name1;
 			ParsedAssemblyName name2;