diff --git a/Polygon_mesh_processing/include/CGAL/Polygon_mesh_processing/interpolated_corrected_curvatures.h b/Polygon_mesh_processing/include/CGAL/Polygon_mesh_processing/interpolated_corrected_curvatures.h
index a8d45d8b867..13cad81b410 100644
--- a/Polygon_mesh_processing/include/CGAL/Polygon_mesh_processing/interpolated_corrected_curvatures.h
+++ b/Polygon_mesh_processing/include/CGAL/Polygon_mesh_processing/interpolated_corrected_curvatures.h
@@ -76,20 +76,6 @@ struct Principal_curvatures_and_directions {
 
 namespace internal {
 
-template<typename PolygonMesh, typename GT>
-typename GT::FT average_edge_length(const PolygonMesh& pmesh) {
-  const std::size_t n = edges(pmesh).size();
-  if (n == 0)
-    return 0;
-
-  typename GT::FT avg_edge_length = 0;
-  for (auto e : edges(pmesh))
-    avg_edge_length += edge_length(e, pmesh);
-
-  avg_edge_length /= static_cast<typename GT::FT>(n);
-  return avg_edge_length;
-}
-
 template<typename GT>
 struct Vertex_measures {
   typename GT::FT area_measure = 0;
@@ -650,7 +636,7 @@ void interpolated_corrected_curvatures_one_vertex(
   typename GT::FT radius = choose_parameter(get_parameter(np, internal_np::ball_radius), -1);
 
   // calculate avg_edge_length as it is used in case radius is 0, and in the principal curvature computation later
-  typename GT::FT avg_edge_length = average_edge_length<PolygonMesh, GT>(pmesh);
+  typename GT::FT avg_edge_length = average_edge_length<PolygonMesh>(pmesh);
 
   // if the radius is 0, we use a small epsilon to expand the ball (scaled with the average edge length)
   if (is_zero(radius))
@@ -799,7 +785,7 @@ private:
 
     // if no radius is given, we pass -1 which will make the expansion be only on the incident faces instead of a ball
     const FT radius = choose_parameter(get_parameter(np, internal_np::ball_radius), -1);
-    avg_edge_length = average_edge_length<PolygonMesh, GT>(pmesh);
+    avg_edge_length = average_edge_length<PolygonMesh>(pmesh);
     set_ball_radius(radius);
 
     // check which curvature maps are provided by the user (determines which curvatures are computed)
diff --git a/Polygon_mesh_processing/include/CGAL/Polygon_mesh_processing/measure.h b/Polygon_mesh_processing/include/CGAL/Polygon_mesh_processing/measure.h
index 8f1c60347ee..520ebbec9be 100644
--- a/Polygon_mesh_processing/include/CGAL/Polygon_mesh_processing/measure.h
+++ b/Polygon_mesh_processing/include/CGAL/Polygon_mesh_processing/measure.h
@@ -217,6 +217,25 @@ squared_edge_length(typename boost::graph_traits<PolygonMesh>::edge_descriptor e
   return squared_edge_length(halfedge(e, pmesh), pmesh, np);
 }
 
+template<typename PolygonMesh,
+         typename NamedParameters = parameters::Default_named_parameters>
+typename GetGeomTraits<PolygonMesh, NamedParameters>::type::FT
+average_edge_length(const PolygonMesh& pmesh,
+                    const NamedParameters& np = parameters::default_values())
+{
+  typedef typename GetGeomTraits<PolygonMesh, NamedParameters>::type GT;
+
+  const std::size_t n = edges(pmesh).size();
+  CGAL_assertion(n > 0);
+
+  typename GT::FT avg_edge_length = 0;
+  for (auto e : edges(pmesh))
+    avg_edge_length += edge_length(e, pmesh, np);
+
+  avg_edge_length /= static_cast<typename GT::FT>(n);
+  return avg_edge_length;
+}
+
 /**
   * \ingroup PMP_measure_grp
   *