diff --git a/include/tools/otherTools.h b/include/tools/otherTools.h
index 2f95f3fc..7f80dbb9 100644
--- a/include/tools/otherTools.h
+++ b/include/tools/otherTools.h
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
+#include <map>
+#include <zim/zim.h>
 
 namespace pugi {
   class xml_node;
@@ -41,6 +43,8 @@ namespace kiwix
                                      const std::string& tagName);
   bool convertStrToBool(const std::string& value);
 
+  using MimeCounterType = std::map<const std::string, zim::article_index_type>;
+  MimeCounterType parseMimetypeCounter(const std::string& counterData);
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/reader.cpp b/src/reader.cpp
index 8d6b5a47..bda070cc 100644
--- a/src/reader.cpp
+++ b/src/reader.cpp
@@ -103,29 +103,16 @@ zim::File* Reader::getZimFileHandler() const
 {
   return this->zimFileHandler;
 }
-std::map<const std::string, unsigned int> Reader::parseCounterMetadata() const
-{
-  std::map<const std::string, unsigned int> counters;
-  string mimeType, item, counterString;
-  unsigned int counter;
 
+MimeCounterType Reader::parseCounterMetadata() const
+{
   zim::Article article = this->zimFileHandler->getArticle('M', "Counter");
 
   if (article.good()) {
-    stringstream ssContent(article.getData());
-
-    while (getline(ssContent, item, ';')) {
-      stringstream ssItem(item);
-      getline(ssItem, mimeType, '=');
-      getline(ssItem, counterString, '=');
-      if (!counterString.empty() && !mimeType.empty()) {
-        sscanf(counterString.c_str(), "%u", &counter);
-        counters.insert(pair<string, int>(mimeType, counter));
-      }
-    }
+    return parseMimetypeCounter(article.getData());
   }
 
-  return counters;
+  return MimeCounterType();
 }
 
 /* Get the count of articles which can be indexed/displayed */
diff --git a/src/tools/otherTools.cpp b/src/tools/otherTools.cpp
index e4ae850b..7d61f7a8 100644
--- a/src/tools/otherTools.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/otherTools.cpp
@@ -280,3 +280,24 @@ bool kiwix::convertStrToBool(const std::string& value)
   throw std::domain_error(ss.str());
 }
 
+
+kiwix::MimeCounterType kiwix::parseMimetypeCounter(const std::string& counterData)
+{
+  kiwix::MimeCounterType counters;
+  std::string mimeType, item, counterString;
+  unsigned int counter;
+
+  std::stringstream ssContent(counterData);
+
+  while (getline(ssContent, item, ';')) {
+    std::stringstream ssItem(item);
+    getline(ssItem, mimeType, '=');
+    getline(ssItem, counterString, '=');
+    if (!counterString.empty() && !mimeType.empty()) {
+      sscanf(counterString.c_str(), "%u", &counter);
+      counters.insert(std::pair<std::string, int>(mimeType, counter));
+    }
+  }
+
+  return counters;
+}