diff --git a/src/box/box.cc b/src/box/box.cc
index be23903350740fba814babc00df7a9db1b8ec0d2..b544b6548e274a753d73e7c845e93466a49186dd 100644
--- a/src/box/box.cc
+++ b/src/box/box.cc
@@ -241,6 +241,12 @@ box_is_ro(void)
 	return is_ro || is_orphan;
 }
 
+bool
+box_is_orphan(void)
+{
+	return is_orphan;
+}
+
 int
 box_wait_ro(bool ro, double timeout)
 {
diff --git a/src/box/box.h b/src/box/box.h
index ccd527bd54a998de57ff2a5b97e0fa5a3b4dc31a..83400b44988b7aef8eeb3a9263aa84aa096a14e9 100644
--- a/src/box/box.h
+++ b/src/box/box.h
@@ -105,6 +105,9 @@ box_set_ro(bool ro);
 bool
 box_is_ro(void);
 
+bool
+box_is_orphan(void);
+
 /**
  * Wait until the instance switches to a desired mode.
  * \param ro wait read-only if set or read-write if unset