diff --git a/guix/packages.scm b/guix/packages.scm
index f70fad695e..b004882cc6 100644
--- a/guix/packages.scm
+++ b/guix/packages.scm
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ (define-module (guix packages)
   #:use-module (ice-9 regex)
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-1)
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-9 gnu)
+  #:use-module (srfi srfi-11)
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-26)
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-34)
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-35)
@@ -117,6 +118,8 @@ (define-module (guix packages)
             deprecated-package
             package-field-location
 
+            package-specification->name+version+output
+
             this-package-input
             this-package-native-input
 
@@ -783,6 +786,26 @@ (define (package-field-location package field)
         #f)))
     (_ #f)))
 
+(define* (package-specification->name+version+output spec
+                                                     #:optional (output "out"))
+  "Parse package specification SPEC and return three value: the specified
+package name, version number (or #f), and output name (or OUTPUT).  SPEC may
+optionally contain a version number and an output name, as in these examples:
+
+  guile
+  guile@2.0.9
+  guile:debug
+  guile@2.0.9:debug
+"
+  (let*-values (((name sub-drv)
+                 (match (string-rindex spec #\:)
+                   (#f    (values spec output))
+                   (colon (values (substring spec 0 colon)
+                                  (substring spec (+ 1 colon))))))
+                ((name version)
+                 (package-name->name+version name)))
+    (values name version sub-drv)))
+
 (define-syntax-rule (this-package-input name)
   "Return the input NAME of the package being defined--i.e., an input
 from the ‘inputs’ or ‘propagated-inputs’ field.  Native inputs are not
diff --git a/guix/ui.scm b/guix/ui.scm
index 6f2d4fe245..0cc121f048 100644
--- a/guix/ui.scm
+++ b/guix/ui.scm
@@ -118,7 +118,6 @@ (define-module (guix ui)
             package-synopsis-string
             string->recutils
             package->recutils
-            package-specification->name+version+output
 
             pager-wrapped-port
             with-paginated-output-port
@@ -2098,26 +2097,6 @@ (define (delete-generation* store profile generation)
           (generation-file-name profile generation))
   (delete-generation store profile generation))
 
-(define* (package-specification->name+version+output spec
-                                                     #:optional (output "out"))
-  "Parse package specification SPEC and return three value: the specified
-package name, version number (or #f), and output name (or OUTPUT).  SPEC may
-optionally contain a version number and an output name, as in these examples:
-
-  guile
-  guile@2.0.9
-  guile:debug
-  guile@2.0.9:debug
-"
-  (let*-values (((name sub-drv)
-                 (match (string-rindex spec #\:)
-                   (#f    (values spec output))
-                   (colon (values (substring spec 0 colon)
-                                  (substring spec (+ 1 colon))))))
-                ((name version)
-                 (package-name->name+version name)))
-    (values name version sub-drv)))
-
 
 ;;;
 ;;; Command-line option processing.
diff --git a/tests/packages.scm b/tests/packages.scm
index 2b4f9f8e90..be9188ceb1 100644
--- a/tests/packages.scm
+++ b/tests/packages.scm
@@ -1926,6 +1926,23 @@ (define compressors '(("gzip"  . "gz")
                                     "-p" (derivation->output-path prof2)
                                     "--search-paths"))))))
 
+(test-equal "package-specification->name+version+output"
+  '(("guile" #f "out")
+    ("guile" "2.0.9" "out")
+    ("guile" #f "debug")
+    ("guile" "2.0.9" "debug")
+    ("guile-cairo" "1.4.1" "out"))
+  (map (lambda (spec)
+         (call-with-values
+             (lambda ()
+               (package-specification->name+version+output spec))
+           list))
+       '("guile"
+         "guile@2.0.9"
+         "guile:debug"
+         "guile@2.0.9:debug"
+         "guile-cairo@1.4.1")))
+
 (test-equal "specification->package when not found"
   'quit
   (catch 'quit
diff --git a/tests/ui.scm b/tests/ui.scm
index 438acae525..7bd948bd14 100644
--- a/tests/ui.scm
+++ b/tests/ui.scm
@@ -100,23 +100,6 @@ (define guile-2.0.9
     (package-description-string
      (dummy-package "foo" (description "b•ll•t")))))
 
-(test-equal "package-specification->name+version+output"
-  '(("guile" #f "out")
-    ("guile" "2.0.9" "out")
-    ("guile" #f "debug")
-    ("guile" "2.0.9" "debug")
-    ("guile-cairo" "1.4.1" "out"))
-  (map (lambda (spec)
-         (call-with-values
-             (lambda ()
-               (package-specification->name+version+output spec))
-           list))
-       '("guile"
-         "guile@2.0.9"
-         "guile:debug"
-         "guile@2.0.9:debug"
-         "guile-cairo@1.4.1")))
-
 (test-equal "integer"
   '(1)
   (string->generations "1"))
