diff --git a/lib/src/merge.rs b/lib/src/merge.rs
index 56780e3c4..281b84668 100644
--- a/lib/src/merge.rs
+++ b/lib/src/merge.rs
@@ -311,6 +311,14 @@ impl<T> Merge<Option<T>> {
         Self::resolved(Some(value))
     }
 
+    pub fn is_absent(&self) -> bool {
+        matches!(self.as_resolved(), Some(None))
+    }
+
+    pub fn is_present(&self) -> bool {
+        !self.is_absent()
+    }
+
     /// Creates lists of `removes` and `adds` from a `Merge` by dropping
     /// `None` values. Note that the conversion is lossy: the order of `None`
     /// values is not preserved when converting back to a `Merge`.
diff --git a/lib/src/op_store.rs b/lib/src/op_store.rs
index 0f56cbc95..c9c468a6e 100644
--- a/lib/src/op_store.rs
+++ b/lib/src/op_store.rs
@@ -105,13 +105,13 @@ impl RefTarget {
 
     /// Returns true if this target points to no commit.
     pub fn is_absent(&self) -> bool {
-        matches!(self.merge.as_resolved(), Some(None))
+        self.merge.is_absent()
     }
 
     /// Returns true if this target points to any commit. Conflicting target is
     /// always "present" as it should have at least one commit id.
     pub fn is_present(&self) -> bool {
-        !self.is_absent()
+        self.merge.is_present()
     }
 
     /// Whether this target has conflicts.