diff --git a/lib/elasticsearch/config.js b/lib/elasticsearch/config.js
index 8dbb7af..79d7524 100644
--- a/lib/elasticsearch/config.js
+++ b/lib/elasticsearch/config.js
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+const util = require('../util')
+
 // Configure search scopes:
 const SEARCH_SCOPES = {
   all: {
@@ -78,17 +80,11 @@ const FILTER_CONFIG = {
   owner: { operator: 'match', field: ['items.owner.id', 'items.owner.label'], repeatable: true, path: 'items' },
   subjectLiteral: {
     transform: (val, logger) => {
-      const removePeriod = (x) => {
-        if (x.slice(-1) === '.') {
-          logger.debug('Removing terminal period', JSON.stringify(val, null, 4))
-          return x.slice(0, -1)
-        } else return x
-      }
       if (typeof val === 'string') {
-        return removePeriod(val)
+        return util.removeTrailingPeriod(val, logger)
       }
       if (Array.isArray(val)) {
-        return val.map(removePeriod)
+        return val.map((val) => util.removeTrailingPeriod(val, logger))
       }
     },
     operator: 'match',
diff --git a/lib/util.js b/lib/util.js
index f0da4ef..636d95b 100644
--- a/lib/util.js
+++ b/lib/util.js
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 const logger = require('./logger')
 const { isItemNyplOwned } = require('./ownership_determination')
 
+exports.removeTrailingPeriod = (x, logger) => {
+  if (x.slice(-1) === '.') {
+    logger.debug('Removing terminal period', JSON.stringify(x, null, 4))
+    return x.slice(0, -1)
+  } else return x
+}
+
 exports.sortOnPropWithUndefinedLast = (property) => {
   return function (a, b) {
     // equal items sort equally