diff --git a/src/core/meson.build b/src/core/meson.build
index df3aa5c6c1..f6e1f66177 100644
--- a/src/core/meson.build
+++ b/src/core/meson.build
@@ -22,8 +22,6 @@ libcore_sources = '''
         bpf-firewall.h
         cgroup.c
         cgroup.h
-        chown-recursive.c
-        chown-recursive.h
         dbus-automount.c
         dbus-automount.h
         dbus-cgroup.c
diff --git a/src/core/chown-recursive.c b/src/shared/chown-recursive.c
similarity index 100%
rename from src/core/chown-recursive.c
rename to src/shared/chown-recursive.c
diff --git a/src/core/chown-recursive.h b/src/shared/chown-recursive.h
similarity index 100%
rename from src/core/chown-recursive.h
rename to src/shared/chown-recursive.h
diff --git a/src/shared/meson.build b/src/shared/meson.build
index feaeffeb26..8cea90e9d6 100644
--- a/src/shared/meson.build
+++ b/src/shared/meson.build
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ shared_sources = files('''
         cgroup-setup.h
         cgroup-show.c
         cgroup-show.h
+        chown-recursive.c
+        chown-recursive.h
         clean-ipc.c
         clean-ipc.h
         clock-util.c