diff --git a/git-flow b/git-flow
index 99c9510..bfbd76e 100755
--- a/git-flow
+++ b/git-flow
@@ -202,6 +202,9 @@
 	has $BASE $ALL_MERGES
 }
 
+# helper functions for common reuse
+max() { if [ "$1" -gt "$2" ]; then echo "$1"; else echo "$2"; fi; }
+
 # convenience functions for checking whether flags have been set or not
 flag() { eval FLAG=\$FLAGS_$1; [ $FLAG -eq $FLAGS_TRUE ]; }
 noflag() { eval FLAG=\$FLAGS_$1; [ $FLAG -ne $FLAGS_TRUE ]; }