diff --git a/ocr-service/confidence.py b/ocr-service/confidence.py
index e4835db6..1c59a963 100644
--- a/ocr-service/confidence.py
+++ b/ocr-service/confidence.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ ILLEGIBLE_MARKER = "[unleserlich]"
 CORRECTION_MARKER = "[?]"
 
 
-def _collapse_adjacent_markers(tokens: list[str]) -> list[str]:
+def collapse_adjacent_markers(tokens: list[str]) -> list[str]:
     collapsed: list[str] = []
     prev_was_marker = False
     for token in tokens:
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ def apply_confidence_markers(words: list[dict], threshold: float | None = None)
         else:
             tokens.append(word["text"])
 
-    return " ".join(_collapse_adjacent_markers(tokens))
+    return " ".join(collapse_adjacent_markers(tokens))
 
 
 def words_from_characters(prediction: str, confidences: list[float]) -> list[dict]:
diff --git a/ocr-service/spell_check.py b/ocr-service/spell_check.py
index 03692ad6..2088cd41 100644
--- a/ocr-service/spell_check.py
+++ b/ocr-service/spell_check.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import os
 
 from spellchecker import SpellChecker
 
-from confidence import CORRECTION_MARKER, ILLEGIBLE_MARKER, _collapse_adjacent_markers
+from confidence import CORRECTION_MARKER, ILLEGIBLE_MARKER, collapse_adjacent_markers
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -114,4 +114,4 @@ def correct_text(text: str) -> str:
         else:
             checked.append(ILLEGIBLE_MARKER)
 
-    return " ".join(_collapse_adjacent_markers(checked))
+    return " ".join(collapse_adjacent_markers(checked))