diff --git a/cmd/controller/app/controller.go b/cmd/controller/app/controller.go
index 966c1cfea..668c9c85b 100644
--- a/cmd/controller/app/controller.go
+++ b/cmd/controller/app/controller.go
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	dynamicclient "k8s.io/client-go/dynamic"
@@ -48,10 +47,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/controller"
 	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/controller/clusterissuers"
 	dnsutil "github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/issuer/acme/dns/util"
-	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/issuer/acme/http/internal/istio"
 	logf "github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/logs"
 	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/metrics"
 	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/util"
+	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/util/istio"
 )
 
 const controllerAgentName = "cert-manager"
@@ -72,14 +71,14 @@ func Run(opts *options.ControllerOptions, stopCh <-chan struct{}) {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
-	ctx.IstioEnabled, err = isIstioInstalled(ctx)
+	ctx.IstioEnabled, err = istio.IsIstioInstalled(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Error(err, "failed to discover if Istio is available")
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
 	if ctx.IstioEnabled {
-		ctx.IstioEnabled, err = canListVirtualService(rootCtx, ctx, opts.Namespace)
+		ctx.IstioEnabled, err = istio.CanListVirtualService(ctx, opts.Namespace)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Error(err, "failed to list Istio VirtualServices")
 			os.Exit(1)
@@ -163,33 +162,6 @@ func Run(opts *options.ControllerOptions, stopCh <-chan struct{}) {
 	startLeaderElection(rootCtx, opts, leaderElectionClient, ctx.Recorder, run)
 }
 
-func isIstioInstalled(ctx *controller.Context) (bool, error) {
-	groups, err := ctx.Client.Discovery().ServerGroups()
-	if err != nil {
-		return false, err
-	}
-
-	for _, group := range groups.Groups {
-		if group.Name == istio.VirtualServiceGvr().Group {
-			return true, nil
-		}
-	}
-	return false, nil
-}
-
-func canListVirtualService(rootCtx context.Context, ctx *controller.Context, namespace string) (bool, error) {
-	// Check if sa has permissions to list virtualservice
-	_, err := ctx.DynamicClient.Resource(istio.VirtualServiceGvr()).Namespace(namespace).List(rootCtx, metav1.ListOptions{})
-	if errors.IsForbidden(err) {
-		return false, nil
-	}
-	if err != nil {
-		return false, err
-	}
-
-	return true, nil
-}
-
 func buildControllerContext(ctx context.Context, stopCh <-chan struct{}, opts *options.ControllerOptions) (*controller.Context, *rest.Config, error) {
 	log := logf.FromContext(ctx, "build-context")
 	// Load the users Kubernetes config
diff --git a/pkg/controller/acmechallenges/controller.go b/pkg/controller/acmechallenges/controller.go
index dac14fd0b..d959a7495 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/acmechallenges/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/acmechallenges/controller.go
@@ -35,10 +35,10 @@ import (
 	cmlisters "github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/client/listers/certmanager/v1"
 	controllerpkg "github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/controller"
 	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/controller/acmechallenges/scheduler"
+	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/internal/apis/istio"
 	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/issuer"
 	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/issuer/acme/dns"
 	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/issuer/acme/http"
-	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/issuer/acme/http/internal/istio"
 	logf "github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/logs"
 )
 
diff --git a/pkg/util/istio/istio.go b/pkg/util/istio/istio.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..05843af3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/util/istio/istio.go
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2020 The cert-manager Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package istio
+
+import (
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+
+	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/controller"
+	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/internal/apis/istio"
+)
+
+func IsIstioInstalled(ctx *controller.Context) (bool, error) {
+	groups, err := ctx.Client.Discovery().ServerGroups()
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	for _, group := range groups.Groups {
+		if group.Name == istio.VirtualServiceGvr().Group {
+			return true, nil
+		}
+	}
+	return false, nil
+}
+
+func CanListVirtualService(ctx *controller.Context, namespace string) (bool, error) {
+	// Check if sa has permissions to list virtualservice
+	_, err := ctx.DynamicClient.Resource(istio.VirtualServiceGvr()).Namespace(namespace).List(ctx.RootContext, metav1.ListOptions{})
+	if errors.IsForbidden(err) {
+		return false, nil
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	return true, nil
+}