diff --git a/src/hb-ot-shape-complex-arabic.cc b/src/hb-ot-shape-complex-arabic.cc
index 942edc7d6..02df53369 100644
--- a/src/hb-ot-shape-complex-arabic.cc
+++ b/src/hb-ot-shape-complex-arabic.cc
@@ -61,21 +61,21 @@ static unsigned int get_joining_type (hb_codepoint_t u, hb_unicode_general_categ
 {
   /* TODO Macroize the magic bit operations */
 
-  if (likely (hb_codepoint_in_range (u, JOINING_TABLE_FIRST, JOINING_TABLE_LAST))) {
+  if (likely (hb_in_range<hb_codepoint_t> (u, JOINING_TABLE_FIRST, JOINING_TABLE_LAST))) {
     unsigned int j_type = joining_table[u - JOINING_TABLE_FIRST];
     if (likely (j_type != JOINING_TYPE_X))
       return j_type;
   }
 
   /* Mongolian joining data is not in ArabicJoining.txt yet */
-  if (unlikely (hb_codepoint_in_range (u, 0x1800, 0x18AF)))
+  if (unlikely (hb_in_range<hb_codepoint_t> (u, 0x1800, 0x18AF)))
   {
     /* All letters, SIBE SYLLABLE BOUNDARY MARKER, and NIRUGU are D */
     if (gen_cat == HB_UNICODE_GENERAL_CATEGORY_OTHER_LETTER || u == 0x1807 || u == 0x180A)
       return JOINING_TYPE_D;
   }
 
-  if (unlikely (hb_codepoint_in_range (u, 0x200C, 0x200D))) {
+  if (unlikely (hb_in_range<hb_codepoint_t> (u, 0x200C, 0x200D))) {
     return u == 0x200C ? JOINING_TYPE_U : JOINING_TYPE_C;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/hb-private.hh b/src/hb-private.hh
index 6c19d374c..b5277a521 100644
--- a/src/hb-private.hh
+++ b/src/hb-private.hh
@@ -573,13 +573,14 @@ HB_BEGIN_DECLS
 
 /* Misc */
 
+HB_END_DECLS
 
 /* Pre-mature optimization:
  * Checks for lo <= u <= hi but with an optimization if lo and hi
  * are only different in a contiguous set of lower-most bits.
  */
-static inline bool
-hb_codepoint_in_range (hb_codepoint_t u, hb_codepoint_t lo, hb_codepoint_t hi)
+template <typename T> inline bool
+hb_in_range (T u, T lo, T hi)
 {
   if ( ((lo^hi) & lo) == 0 &&
        ((lo^hi) & hi) == (lo^hi) &&
@@ -589,10 +590,13 @@ hb_codepoint_in_range (hb_codepoint_t u, hb_codepoint_t lo, hb_codepoint_t hi)
     return lo <= u && u <= hi;
 }
 
+HB_BEGIN_DECLS
+
 
 /* Useful for set-operations on small enums */
 #define FLAG(x) (1<<(x))
 
+
 HB_END_DECLS
 
 #endif /* HB_PRIVATE_HH */