diff --git a/search/levenshtein.go b/search/levenshtein.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7a647096
--- /dev/null
+++ b/search/levenshtein.go
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+package search
+
+import (
+	"math"
+)
+
+func LevenshteinDistance(a, b *string) int {
+	la := len(*a)
+	lb := len(*b)
+	d := make([]int, la+1)
+	var lastdiag, olddiag, temp int
+
+	for i := 1; i <= la; i++ {
+		d[i] = i
+	}
+	for i := 1; i <= lb; i++ {
+		d[0] = i
+		lastdiag = i - 1
+		for j := 1; j <= la; j++ {
+			olddiag = d[j]
+			min := d[j] + 1
+			if (d[j-1] + 1) < min {
+				min = d[j-1] + 1
+			}
+			if (*a)[j-1] == (*b)[i-1] {
+				temp = 0
+			} else {
+				temp = 1
+			}
+			if (lastdiag + temp) < min {
+				min = lastdiag + temp
+			}
+			d[j] = min
+			lastdiag = olddiag
+		}
+	}
+	return d[la]
+}
+
+// levenshteinDistanceMax same as levenshteinDistance but
+// attempts to bail early once we know the distance
+// will be greater than max
+// in which case the first return val will be the max
+// and the second will be true, indicating max was exceeded
+func LevenshteinDistanceMax(a, b *string, max int) (int, bool) {
+	la := len(*a)
+	lb := len(*b)
+
+	ld := int(math.Abs(float64(la - lb)))
+	if ld > max {
+		return max, true
+	}
+
+	d := make([]int, la+1)
+	var lastdiag, olddiag, temp int
+
+	for i := 1; i <= la; i++ {
+		d[i] = i
+	}
+	for i := 1; i <= lb; i++ {
+		d[0] = i
+		lastdiag = i - 1
+		rowmin := max + 1
+		for j := 1; j <= la; j++ {
+			olddiag = d[j]
+			min := d[j] + 1
+			if (d[j-1] + 1) < min {
+				min = d[j-1] + 1
+			}
+			if (*a)[j-1] == (*b)[i-1] {
+				temp = 0
+			} else {
+				temp = 1
+			}
+			if (lastdiag + temp) < min {
+				min = lastdiag + temp
+			}
+			if min < rowmin {
+				rowmin = min
+			}
+			d[j] = min
+
+			lastdiag = olddiag
+		}
+		// after each row if rowmin isnt less than max stop
+		if rowmin > max {
+			return max, true
+		}
+	}
+	return d[la], false
+}
diff --git a/search/searchers/search_fuzzy_test.go b/search/levenshtein_test.go
similarity index 91%
rename from search/searchers/search_fuzzy_test.go
rename to search/levenshtein_test.go
index a9bc0269..7547b956 100644
--- a/search/searchers/search_fuzzy_test.go
+++ b/search/levenshtein_test.go
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 //  either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions
 //  and limitations under the License.
 
-package searchers
+package search
 
 import (
 	"testing"
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func TestLevenshteinDistance(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range tests {
-		actual := levenshteinDistance(&test.a, &test.b)
+		actual := LevenshteinDistance(&test.a, &test.b)
 		if actual != test.dist {
 			t.Errorf("expected %d, got %d for %s and %s", test.dist, actual, test.a, test.b)
 		}
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ func TestLevenshteinDistanceMax(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range tests {
-		actual, exceeded := levenshteinDistanceMax(&test.a, &test.b, test.max)
+		actual, exceeded := LevenshteinDistanceMax(&test.a, &test.b, test.max)
 		if actual != test.dist || exceeded != test.exceeded {
 			t.Errorf("expected %d %t, got %d %t for %s and %s", test.dist, test.exceeded, actual, exceeded, test.a, test.b)
 		}
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ func BenchmarkLevenshteinDistance(b *testing.B) {
 	a := "water"
 	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
 		for _, t := range benchmarkTerms {
-			levenshteinDistance(&a, &t)
+			LevenshteinDistance(&a, &t)
 		}
 	}
 }
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ func BenchmarkLevenshteinDistanceMax(b *testing.B) {
 	a := "water"
 	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
 		for _, t := range benchmarkTerms {
-			levenshteinDistanceMax(&a, &t, 2)
+			LevenshteinDistanceMax(&a, &t, 2)
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/search/searchers/search_fuzzy.go b/search/searchers/search_fuzzy.go
index 8498ded7..cbf99a3d 100644
--- a/search/searchers/search_fuzzy.go
+++ b/search/searchers/search_fuzzy.go
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@
 package searchers
 
 import (
-	"math"
-
 	"github.com/blevesearch/bleve/index"
 	"github.com/blevesearch/bleve/search"
 )
@@ -41,7 +39,7 @@ func NewFuzzySearcher(indexReader index.IndexReader, term string, prefix, fuzzin
 	candidateTerms := make([]string, 0)
 	tfd, err := fieldReader.Next()
 	for err == nil && tfd != nil {
-		ld, exceeded := levenshteinDistanceMax(&term, &tfd.Term, fuzziness)
+		ld, exceeded := search.LevenshteinDistanceMax(&term, &tfd.Term, fuzziness)
 		if !exceeded && ld <= fuzziness {
 			candidateTerms = append(candidateTerms, tfd.Term)
 		}
@@ -103,89 +101,3 @@ func (s *FuzzySearcher) Close() {
 func (s *FuzzySearcher) Min() int {
 	return 0
 }
-
-func levenshteinDistance(a, b *string) int {
-	la := len(*a)
-	lb := len(*b)
-	d := make([]int, la+1)
-	var lastdiag, olddiag, temp int
-
-	for i := 1; i <= la; i++ {
-		d[i] = i
-	}
-	for i := 1; i <= lb; i++ {
-		d[0] = i
-		lastdiag = i - 1
-		for j := 1; j <= la; j++ {
-			olddiag = d[j]
-			min := d[j] + 1
-			if (d[j-1] + 1) < min {
-				min = d[j-1] + 1
-			}
-			if (*a)[j-1] == (*b)[i-1] {
-				temp = 0
-			} else {
-				temp = 1
-			}
-			if (lastdiag + temp) < min {
-				min = lastdiag + temp
-			}
-			d[j] = min
-			lastdiag = olddiag
-		}
-	}
-	return d[la]
-}
-
-// levenshteinDistanceMax same as levenshteinDistance but
-// attempts to bail early once we know the distance
-// will be greater than max
-// in which case the first return val will be the max
-// and the second will be true, indicating max was exceeded
-func levenshteinDistanceMax(a, b *string, max int) (int, bool) {
-	la := len(*a)
-	lb := len(*b)
-
-	ld := int(math.Abs(float64(la - lb)))
-	if ld > max {
-		return max, true
-	}
-
-	d := make([]int, la+1)
-	var lastdiag, olddiag, temp int
-
-	for i := 1; i <= la; i++ {
-		d[i] = i
-	}
-	for i := 1; i <= lb; i++ {
-		d[0] = i
-		lastdiag = i - 1
-		rowmin := max + 1
-		for j := 1; j <= la; j++ {
-			olddiag = d[j]
-			min := d[j] + 1
-			if (d[j-1] + 1) < min {
-				min = d[j-1] + 1
-			}
-			if (*a)[j-1] == (*b)[i-1] {
-				temp = 0
-			} else {
-				temp = 1
-			}
-			if (lastdiag + temp) < min {
-				min = lastdiag + temp
-			}
-			if min < rowmin {
-				rowmin = min
-			}
-			d[j] = min
-
-			lastdiag = olddiag
-		}
-		// after each row if rowmin isnt less than max stop
-		if rowmin > max {
-			return max, true
-		}
-	}
-	return d[la], false
-}