diff --git a/internal/backend/local/local.go b/internal/backend/local/local.go
index ff7c4b7a5..599bee0f6 100644
--- a/internal/backend/local/local.go
+++ b/internal/backend/local/local.go
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ func (b *Local) openReader(_ context.Context, h backend.Handle, length int, offs
 	}
 
 	if length > 0 {
-		return backend.LimitReadCloser(f, int64(length)), nil
+		return util.LimitReadCloser(f, int64(length)), nil
 	}
 
 	return f, nil
diff --git a/internal/backend/sftp/sftp.go b/internal/backend/sftp/sftp.go
index b624c5060..3591c1530 100644
--- a/internal/backend/sftp/sftp.go
+++ b/internal/backend/sftp/sftp.go
@@ -437,7 +437,7 @@ func (r *SFTP) Load(ctx context.Context, h backend.Handle, length int, offset in
 
 		// check the underlying reader to be agnostic to however fn() handles the returned error
 		_, rderr := rd.Read([]byte{0})
-		if rderr == io.EOF && rd.(*backend.LimitedReadCloser).N != 0 {
+		if rderr == io.EOF && rd.(*util.LimitedReadCloser).N != 0 {
 			// file is too short
 			return fmt.Errorf("%w: %v", errTooShort, err)
 		}
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ func (r *SFTP) openReader(_ context.Context, h backend.Handle, length int, offse
 	if length > 0 {
 		// unlimited reads usually use io.Copy which needs WriteTo support at the underlying reader
 		// limited reads are usually combined with io.ReadFull which reads all required bytes into a buffer in one go
-		return backend.LimitReadCloser(f, int64(length)), nil
+		return util.LimitReadCloser(f, int64(length)), nil
 	}
 
 	return f, nil
diff --git a/internal/backend/util/limited_reader.go b/internal/backend/util/limited_reader.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fdee1c06a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/backend/util/limited_reader.go
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package util
+
+import "io"
+
+// LimitedReadCloser wraps io.LimitedReader and exposes the Close() method.
+type LimitedReadCloser struct {
+	io.Closer
+	io.LimitedReader
+}
+
+// LimitReadCloser returns a new reader wraps r in an io.LimitedReader, but also
+// exposes the Close() method.
+func LimitReadCloser(r io.ReadCloser, n int64) *LimitedReadCloser {
+	return &LimitedReadCloser{Closer: r, LimitedReader: io.LimitedReader{R: r, N: n}}
+}
diff --git a/internal/backend/utils.go b/internal/backend/utils.go
index 161608295..919a1ad92 100644
--- a/internal/backend/utils.go
+++ b/internal/backend/utils.go
@@ -62,15 +62,3 @@ func LoadAll(ctx context.Context, buf []byte, be Backend, h Handle) ([]byte, err
 
 	return buf, nil
 }
-
-// LimitedReadCloser wraps io.LimitedReader and exposes the Close() method.
-type LimitedReadCloser struct {
-	io.Closer
-	io.LimitedReader
-}
-
-// LimitReadCloser returns a new reader wraps r in an io.LimitedReader, but also
-// exposes the Close() method.
-func LimitReadCloser(r io.ReadCloser, n int64) *LimitedReadCloser {
-	return &LimitedReadCloser{Closer: r, LimitedReader: io.LimitedReader{R: r, N: n}}
-}
diff --git a/internal/cache/file.go b/internal/cache/file.go
index 8d8bc5e84..59444a788 100644
--- a/internal/cache/file.go
+++ b/internal/cache/file.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/backend"
+	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/backend/util"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/crypto"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/debug"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/fs"
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ func (c *Cache) load(h backend.Handle, length int, offset int64) (io.ReadCloser,
 	if length <= 0 {
 		return f, nil
 	}
-	return backend.LimitReadCloser(f, int64(length)), nil
+	return util.LimitReadCloser(f, int64(length)), nil
 }
 
 // Save saves a file in the cache.