diff --git a/include/libtorrent/torrent.hpp b/include/libtorrent/torrent.hpp
index 1258f5e51..3162030e8 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/torrent.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/torrent.hpp
@@ -852,6 +852,13 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		void clear_in_state_update()
 		{ m_in_state_updates = false; }
 
+		void inc_num_connecting()
+		{ ++m_num_connecting; }
+		void dec_num_connecting()
+		{
+			TORRENT_ASSERT(m_num_connecting > 0);
+			--m_num_connecting;
+		}
 #ifdef TORRENT_USE_OPENSSL
 		void set_ssl_cert(std::string const& certificate
 			, std::string const& private_key
@@ -955,15 +962,16 @@ namespace libtorrent
 	public:
 #endif
 		std::set<peer_connection*> m_connections;
+#ifdef TORRENT_DEBUG
+	private:
+#endif
+
 		// of all peers in m_connections, this is the number
 		// of peers that are outgoing and still waiting to
 		// complete the connection. This is used to possibly
 		// kick out these connections when we get incoming
 		// connections (if we've reached the connection limit)
 		int m_num_connecting;
-#ifdef TORRENT_DEBUG
-	private:
-#endif
 
 		// The list of web seeds in this torrent. Seeds
 		// with fatal errors are removed from the set
diff --git a/src/peer_connection.cpp b/src/peer_connection.cpp
index 3d94cae4e..ad20dfe82 100644
--- a/src/peer_connection.cpp
+++ b/src/peer_connection.cpp
@@ -204,10 +204,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		// if t is NULL, we better not be connecting, since
 		// we can't decrement the connecting counter
 		TORRENT_ASSERT(t || !m_connecting);
-		if (m_connecting && t)
-		{
-			++t->m_num_connecting;
-		}
+		if (m_connecting && t) t->inc_num_connecting();
 		m_est_reciprocation_rate = m_ses.m_settings.default_est_reciprocation_rate;
 
 #if TORRENT_USE_I2P
@@ -928,8 +925,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		TORRENT_ASSERT(!m_connecting);
 		if (m_connecting && t)
 		{
-			TORRENT_ASSERT(t->m_num_connecting > 0);
-			--t->m_num_connecting;
+			t->dec_num_connecting();
 			m_connecting = false;
 		}
 
@@ -3419,8 +3415,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		boost::shared_ptr<torrent> t = m_torrent.lock();
 		if (m_connecting)
 		{
-			TORRENT_ASSERT(t->m_num_connecting > 0);
-			--t->m_num_connecting;
+			t->dec_num_connecting();
 			m_connecting = false;
 		}
 
@@ -3553,8 +3548,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		boost::shared_ptr<torrent> t = m_torrent.lock();
 		if (m_connecting)
 		{
-			TORRENT_ASSERT(t->m_num_connecting > 0);
-			--t->m_num_connecting;
+			t->dec_num_connecting();
 			m_connecting = false;
 		}
 		if (m_connection_ticket >= 0)
@@ -4089,8 +4083,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 			TORRENT_ASSERT(t || !m_connecting);
 			if (m_connecting && t)
 			{
-				TORRENT_ASSERT(t->m_num_connecting > 0);
-				--t->m_num_connecting;
+				t->dec_num_connecting();
 				m_connecting = false;
 			}
 			disconnect(errors::torrent_aborted);
@@ -5475,8 +5468,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		TORRENT_ASSERT(t || !m_connecting);
 		if (m_connecting && t)
 		{
-			TORRENT_ASSERT(t->m_num_connecting > 0);
-			--t->m_num_connecting;
+			t->dec_num_connecting();
 			m_connecting = false;
 		}
 		m_ses.m_half_open.done(m_connection_ticket);