diff --git a/src/NetworkManagerUtils.c b/src/NetworkManagerUtils.c
index f4c3df9f5..28b043c00 100644
--- a/src/NetworkManagerUtils.c
+++ b/src/NetworkManagerUtils.c
@@ -172,6 +172,67 @@ nm_spawn_process (const char *args)
 	return status;
 }
 
+/**
+ * nm_utils_get_start_time_for_pid:
+ * @pid: the process identifier
+ *
+ * Originally copied from polkit source (src/polkit/polkitunixprocess.c)
+ * and adjusted.
+ *
+ * Returns: the timestamp when the process started (by parsing /proc/$PID/stat).
+ * If an error occurs (e.g. the process does not exist), 0 is returned.
+ **/
+guint64
+nm_utils_get_start_time_for_pid (pid_t pid)
+{
+	guint64 start_time;
+	gchar *filename;
+	gchar *contents;
+	size_t length;
+	gchar **tokens;
+	guint num_tokens;
+	gchar *p;
+	gchar *endp;
+
+	start_time = 0;
+	contents = NULL;
+
+	filename = g_strdup_printf ("/proc/%d/stat", pid);
+
+	if (!g_file_get_contents (filename, &contents, &length, NULL))
+		goto out;
+
+	/* start time is the token at index 19 after the '(process name)' entry - since only this
+	 * field can contain the ')' character, search backwards for this to avoid malicious
+	 * processes trying to fool us
+	 */
+	p = strrchr (contents, ')');
+	if (p == NULL)
+		goto out;
+	p += 2; /* skip ') ' */
+	if (p - contents >= (int) length)
+		goto out;
+
+	tokens = g_strsplit (p, " ", 0);
+
+	num_tokens = g_strv_length (tokens);
+
+	if (num_tokens < 20)
+		goto out;
+
+	start_time = strtoull (tokens[19], &endp, 10);
+	if (endp == tokens[19])
+		goto out;
+
+	g_strfreev (tokens);
+
+ out:
+	g_free (filename);
+	g_free (contents);
+
+	return start_time;
+}
+
 /******************************************************************************************/
 
 typedef struct {
diff --git a/src/NetworkManagerUtils.h b/src/NetworkManagerUtils.h
index eead08aae..5bd2de5e9 100644
--- a/src/NetworkManagerUtils.h
+++ b/src/NetworkManagerUtils.h
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ str_if_set (const char *str, const char *fallback)
 	return str ? str : fallback;
 }
 
+guint64 nm_utils_get_start_time_for_pid (pid_t pid);
+
 typedef void (*NMUtilsKillChildAsyncCb) (pid_t pid, gboolean success, int child_status, void *user_data);
 void nm_utils_kill_child_async (pid_t pid, int sig, guint64 log_domain, const char *log_name,
                                 guint32 wait_before_kill_msec,
diff --git a/src/nm-auth-subject.c b/src/nm-auth-subject.c
index 79b7e2a17..779b711e6 100644
--- a/src/nm-auth-subject.c
+++ b/src/nm-auth-subject.c
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 #include "nm-dbus-manager.h"
 #include "nm-enum-types.h"
 #include "nm-glib-compat.h"
+#include "NetworkManagerUtils.h"
 
 G_DEFINE_TYPE (NMAuthSubject, nm_auth_subject, G_TYPE_OBJECT)
 
@@ -60,64 +61,6 @@ typedef struct {
 	} unix_process;
 } NMAuthSubjectPrivate;
 
-
-
-/**************************************************************/
-
-/* copied from polkit source (src/polkit/polkitunixprocess.c)
- * and adjusted.
- */
-static guint64
-get_start_time_for_pid (pid_t pid)
-{
-	guint64 start_time;
-	gchar *filename;
-	gchar *contents;
-	size_t length;
-	gchar **tokens;
-	guint num_tokens;
-	gchar *p;
-	gchar *endp;
-
-	start_time = 0;
-	contents = NULL;
-
-	filename = g_strdup_printf ("/proc/%d/stat", pid);
-
-	if (!g_file_get_contents (filename, &contents, &length, NULL))
-		goto out;
-
-	/* start time is the token at index 19 after the '(process name)' entry - since only this
-	 * field can contain the ')' character, search backwards for this to avoid malicious
-	 * processes trying to fool us
-	 */
-	p = strrchr (contents, ')');
-	if (p == NULL)
-		goto out;
-	p += 2; /* skip ') ' */
-	if (p - contents >= (int) length)
-		goto out;
-
-	tokens = g_strsplit (p, " ", 0);
-
-	num_tokens = g_strv_length (tokens);
-
-	if (num_tokens < 20)
-		goto out;
-
-	start_time = strtoull (tokens[19], &endp, 10);
-	if (endp == tokens[19])
-		goto out;
-
-	g_strfreev (tokens);
-
- out:
-	g_free (filename);
-	g_free (contents);
-
-	return start_time;
-}
-
 /**************************************************************/
 
 #define CHECK_SUBJECT(self, error_value) \
@@ -414,7 +357,7 @@ constructed (GObject *object)
 		if (!priv->unix_process.dbus_sender || !*priv->unix_process.dbus_sender)
 			break;
 
-		priv->unix_process.start_time = get_start_time_for_pid (priv->unix_process.pid);
+		priv->unix_process.start_time = nm_utils_get_start_time_for_pid (priv->unix_process.pid);
 
 		if (!priv->unix_process.start_time) {
 			/* could not detect the process start time. The subject is invalid, but don't