diff --git a/src/corelib/io/qfilesystemengine.cpp b/src/corelib/io/qfilesystemengine.cpp
index d8b215816c3..e7f87971712 100644
--- a/src/corelib/io/qfilesystemengine.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/io/qfilesystemengine.cpp
@@ -143,6 +143,12 @@ static bool _q_createLegacyEngine_recursive(QFileSystemEntry &entry, QFileSystem
     return _q_checkEntry(entry, data, resolvingEntry);
 }
 
+Q_CORE_EXPORT bool qt_isCaseSensitive(const QFileSystemEntry &entry, QFileSystemMetaData &data)
+{
+    // called from QtGui (QFileSystemModel, QFileInfoGatherer)
+    return QFileSystemEngine::isCaseSensitive(entry, data);
+}
+
 /*!
     \internal
 
diff --git a/src/corelib/io/qfilesystemengine_p.h b/src/corelib/io/qfilesystemengine_p.h
index 48d4519d688..fa090fe6e1e 100644
--- a/src/corelib/io/qfilesystemengine_p.h
+++ b/src/corelib/io/qfilesystemengine_p.h
@@ -55,12 +55,11 @@ inline bool qIsFilenameBroken(const QFileSystemEntry &entry)
             Q_RETURN_ON_INVALID_FILENAME("Broken filename passed to function", (result)); \
     } while (false)
 
+Q_CORE_EXPORT bool qt_isCaseSensitive(const QFileSystemEntry &entry, QFileSystemMetaData &data);
+
 class Q_AUTOTEST_EXPORT QFileSystemEngine
 {
 public:
-#ifndef QT_BUILD_INTERNAL
-    Q_CORE_EXPORT
-#endif
     static bool isCaseSensitive(const QFileSystemEntry &entry, QFileSystemMetaData &data);
 
     static QFileSystemEntry getLinkTarget(const QFileSystemEntry &link, QFileSystemMetaData &data);
diff --git a/src/gui/itemmodels/qfileinfogatherer_p.h b/src/gui/itemmodels/qfileinfogatherer_p.h
index 6ff54664a81..5dbda50d94a 100644
--- a/src/gui/itemmodels/qfileinfogatherer_p.h
+++ b/src/gui/itemmodels/qfileinfogatherer_p.h
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ public:
 #ifndef QT_NO_FSFILEENGINE
     bool isCaseSensitive() const {
         auto *fiPriv = QFileInfoPrivate::get(const_cast<QFileInfo*>(&mFileInfo));
-        return QFileSystemEngine::isCaseSensitive(fiPriv->fileEntry, fiPriv->metaData);
+        return qt_isCaseSensitive(fiPriv->fileEntry, fiPriv->metaData);
     }
 #endif
 
diff --git a/tests/auto/gui/itemmodels/qfilesystemmodel/tst_qfilesystemmodel.cpp b/tests/auto/gui/itemmodels/qfilesystemmodel/tst_qfilesystemmodel.cpp
index d1e2e4393eb..f75ff57b010 100644
--- a/tests/auto/gui/itemmodels/qfilesystemmodel/tst_qfilesystemmodel.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/gui/itemmodels/qfilesystemmodel/tst_qfilesystemmodel.cpp
@@ -1055,7 +1055,7 @@ void tst_QFileSystemModel::caseSensitivity()
 
     QFileInfo tmpInfo(tmp);
     auto *tmpInfoPriv = QFileInfoPrivate::get(&tmpInfo);
-    if (!QFileSystemEngine::isCaseSensitive(tmpInfoPriv->fileEntry, tmpInfoPriv->metaData)) {
+    if (!qt_isCaseSensitive(tmpInfoPriv->fileEntry, tmpInfoPriv->metaData)) {
         // Verify that files can be accessed by paths with fLipPeD case.
         for (int i = 0; i < paths.size(); ++i) {
             const QModelIndex normalCaseIndex = indexes.at(i);