diff --git a/pkg/sql/opt/cat/utils.go b/pkg/sql/opt/cat/utils.go
index 83b31647c4bc..304246c6941b 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/opt/cat/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/opt/cat/utils.go
@@ -121,17 +121,6 @@ func ResolveTableIndex(
 	return found, foundTabName, nil
 }
 
-// FindTableColumnByName returns the ordinal of the non-mutation column having
-// the given name, if one exists in the given table. Otherwise, it returns -1.
-func FindTableColumnByName(tab Table, name tree.Name) int {
-	for ord, n := 0, tab.AllColumnCount(); ord < n; ord++ {
-		if !IsMutationColumn(tab, ord) && tab.Column(ord).ColName() == name {
-			return ord
-		}
-	}
-	return -1
-}
-
 // FormatTable nicely formats a catalog table using a treeprinter for debugging
 // and testing.
 func FormatTable(cat Catalog, tab Table, tp treeprinter.Node) {
diff --git a/pkg/sql/opt/optbuilder/insert.go b/pkg/sql/opt/optbuilder/insert.go
index 00d5daf6ab14..64d3dff51d49 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/opt/optbuilder/insert.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/opt/optbuilder/insert.go
@@ -904,7 +904,7 @@ func (mb *mutationBuilder) setUpsertCols(insertCols tree.NameList) {
 		for _, name := range insertCols {
 			// Table column must exist, since existence of insertCols has already
 			// been checked previously.
-			ord := cat.FindTableColumnByName(mb.tab, name)
+			ord := findPublicTableColumnByName(mb.tab, name)
 			mb.updateOrds[ord] = mb.insertOrds[ord]
 		}
 	} else {
diff --git a/pkg/sql/opt/optbuilder/mutation_builder.go b/pkg/sql/opt/optbuilder/mutation_builder.go
index cd5a4530c219..b1484bcfdc18 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/opt/optbuilder/mutation_builder.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/opt/optbuilder/mutation_builder.go
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ func (mb *mutationBuilder) addTargetColsByName(names tree.NameList) {
 	for _, name := range names {
 		// Determine the ordinal position of the named column in the table and
 		// add it as a target column.
-		if ord := cat.FindTableColumnByName(mb.tab, name); ord != -1 {
+		if ord := findPublicTableColumnByName(mb.tab, name); ord != -1 {
 			mb.addTargetCol(ord)
 			continue
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/sql/opt/optbuilder/util.go b/pkg/sql/opt/optbuilder/util.go
index 0933ef2438d0..152c428a737b 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/opt/optbuilder/util.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/opt/optbuilder/util.go
@@ -658,3 +658,15 @@ func resolveNumericColumnRefs(tab cat.Table, columns []tree.ColumnID) (ordinals
 	}
 	return ordinals
 }
+
+// findPublicTableColumnByName returns the ordinal of the non-mutation column
+// having the given name, if one exists in the given table. Otherwise, it
+// returns -1.
+func findPublicTableColumnByName(tab cat.Table, name tree.Name) int {
+	for ord, n := 0, tab.AllColumnCount(); ord < n; ord++ {
+		if tab.Column(ord).ColName() == name && !cat.IsMutationColumn(tab, ord) {
+			return ord
+		}
+	}
+	return -1
+}