diff --git a/examples/capi.c b/examples/capi.c
index 4c8a9ef..fd7c802 100644
--- a/examples/capi.c
+++ b/examples/capi.c
@@ -167,8 +167,8 @@ static const struct evmc_context_fn_table ctx_fn_table = {
 int main()
 {
     struct evmc_instance* vm = evmc_create_examplevm();
-    if (vm->abi_version != EVMC_ABI_VERSION)
-        return 1;  // Incompatible ABI version.
+    if (!evmc_is_abi_compatible(vm))
+        return 1;
 
     const uint8_t code[] = "Place some EVM bytecode here";
     const size_t code_size = sizeof(code);
diff --git a/include/evmc/helpers.h b/include/evmc/helpers.h
index 321da2c..da0f687 100644
--- a/include/evmc/helpers.h
+++ b/include/evmc/helpers.h
@@ -17,6 +17,14 @@
 
 #include <evmc/evmc.h>
 
+/**
+ * Returns true if the instance has a compatible ABI version.
+ */
+static inline int evmc_is_abi_compatible(struct evmc_instance *instance)
+{
+    return instance->abi_version == EVMC_ABI_VERSION;
+}
+
 /**
  * Destroys the VM instance.
  *
diff --git a/lib/loader/loader.c b/lib/loader/loader.c
index 3156f2f..d4fa12a 100644
--- a/lib/loader/loader.c
+++ b/lib/loader/loader.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 #include <evmc/loader.h>
 #include <evmc/evmc.h>
+#include <evmc/helpers.h>
 
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -137,7 +138,7 @@ struct evmc_instance* evmc_load_and_create(const char* filename, enum evmc_loade
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    if (instance->abi_version != EVMC_ABI_VERSION)
+    if (!evmc_is_abi_compatible(instance))
     {
         *error_code = EVMC_LOADER_ABI_VERSION_MISMATCH;
         return NULL;