diff --git a/src/c3nav/mapdata/api.py b/src/c3nav/mapdata/api.py
index 109d0bb1..62514328 100644
--- a/src/c3nav/mapdata/api.py
+++ b/src/c3nav/mapdata/api.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ from c3nav.mapdata.models.geometry.space import (POI, Area, Column, CrossDescrip
 from c3nav.mapdata.models.level import Level
 from c3nav.mapdata.models.locations import (Location, LocationGroupCategory, LocationRedirect, LocationSlug,
                                             SpecificLocation)
+from c3nav.mapdata.utils.cache import increment_cache_key
 from c3nav.mapdata.utils.locations import (get_location_by_id_for_request, get_location_by_slug_for_request,
                                            searchable_locations_for_request, visible_locations_for_request)
 from c3nav.mapdata.utils.models import get_submodels
@@ -449,11 +450,7 @@ class UpdatesViewSet(GenericViewSet):
             except ValueError:
                 pass
 
-        counter_key = 'api_updates_fetch_requests%s' % ('_cross_origin' if cross_origin is not None else '')
-        try:
-            cache.incr(counter_key)
-        except ValueError:
-            cache.set(counter_key, 0, None)
+        increment_cache_key('api_updates_fetch_requests%s' % ('_cross_origin' if cross_origin is not None else ''))
 
         from c3nav.site.models import SiteUpdate
 
diff --git a/src/c3nav/mapdata/utils/cache/__init__.py b/src/c3nav/mapdata/utils/cache/__init__.py
index e25c2972..45b29fcb 100644
--- a/src/c3nav/mapdata/utils/cache/__init__.py
+++ b/src/c3nav/mapdata/utils/cache/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,13 @@
+from django.core.cache import cache
+
 from c3nav.mapdata.utils.cache.indexed import GeometryIndexed  # noqa
 from c3nav.mapdata.utils.cache.maphistory import MapHistory  # noqa
 from c3nav.mapdata.utils.cache.accessrestrictions import AccessRestrictionAffected  # noqa
 from c3nav.mapdata.utils.cache.package import CachePackage  # noqa
+
+
+def increment_cache_key(cache_key):
+    try:
+        cache.incr(cache_key)
+    except ValueError:
+        cache.set(cache_key, 0, None)