diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 55d2f583e..91fc9ae42 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ mod criterion;
 mod query_tokens;
 mod search;
 pub mod heed_codec;
+pub mod proximity;
 pub mod tokenizer;
 
 use std::collections::HashMap;
diff --git a/src/proximity.rs b/src/proximity.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0186eb3d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/proximity.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+use std::cmp;
+use crate::{Attribute, Position};
+
+const ONE_ATTRIBUTE: u32 = 1000;
+const MAX_DISTANCE: u32 = 8;
+
+pub fn index_proximity(lhs: u32, rhs: u32) -> u32 {
+    if lhs <= rhs {
+        cmp::min(rhs - lhs, MAX_DISTANCE)
+    } else {
+        cmp::min((lhs - rhs) + 1, MAX_DISTANCE)
+    }
+}
+
+pub fn positions_proximity(lhs: Position, rhs: Position) -> u32 {
+    let (lhs_attr, lhs_index) = extract_position(lhs);
+    let (rhs_attr, rhs_index) = extract_position(rhs);
+    if lhs_attr != rhs_attr { MAX_DISTANCE }
+    else { index_proximity(lhs_index, rhs_index) }
+}
+
+pub fn extract_position(position: Position) -> (Attribute, Position) {
+    (position / ONE_ATTRIBUTE, position % ONE_ATTRIBUTE)
+}
+
+pub fn path_proximity(path: &[Position]) -> u32 {
+    path.windows(2).map(|w| positions_proximity(w[0], w[1])).sum::<u32>()
+}
diff --git a/src/search.rs b/src/search.rs
index b392ad0b6..46e5f5280 100644
--- a/src/search.rs
+++ b/src/search.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ use roaring::bitmap::{IntoIter, RoaringBitmap};
 
 use near_proximity::near_proximity;
 
+use crate::proximity::path_proximity;
 use crate::query_tokens::{QueryTokens, QueryToken};
 use crate::{Index, DocumentId, Position};
 
@@ -194,33 +195,6 @@ impl<'a> Search<'a> {
 
         let mut documents = Vec::new();
 
-        // TODO move this function elsewhere
-        fn compute_proximity(path: &[Position]) -> u32 {
-            const ONE_ATTRIBUTE: u32 = 1000;
-            const MAX_DISTANCE: u32 = 8;
-
-            fn index_proximity(lhs: u32, rhs: u32) -> u32 {
-                if lhs <= rhs {
-                    cmp::min(rhs - lhs, MAX_DISTANCE)
-                } else {
-                    cmp::min((lhs - rhs) + 1, MAX_DISTANCE)
-                }
-            }
-
-            fn positions_proximity(lhs: u32, rhs: u32) -> u32 {
-                let (lhs_attr, lhs_index) = extract_position(lhs);
-                let (rhs_attr, rhs_index) = extract_position(rhs);
-                if lhs_attr != rhs_attr { MAX_DISTANCE }
-                else { index_proximity(lhs_index, rhs_index) }
-            }
-
-            fn extract_position(position: u32) -> (u32, u32) {
-                (position / ONE_ATTRIBUTE, position % ONE_ATTRIBUTE)
-            }
-
-             path.windows(2).map(|w| positions_proximity(w[0], w[1])).sum::<u32>()
-        }
-
         // If there only is one word, no need to compute the best proximities.
         if derived_words.len() == 1 {
             let found_words = derived_words.into_iter().flat_map(|(w, _)| w).map(|(w, _)| w).collect();
@@ -231,7 +205,7 @@ impl<'a> Search<'a> {
         let mut paths = Vec::new();
         for candidate in candidates {
             let keywords = Self::fecth_keywords(rtxn, index, &derived_words, candidate)?;
-            near_proximity(keywords, &mut paths, compute_proximity);
+            near_proximity(keywords, &mut paths, path_proximity);
             if let Some((prox, _path)) = paths.first() {
                 documents.push((*prox, candidate));
             }