diff --git a/readthedocs/search/api.py b/readthedocs/search/api.py
index bc30ceb8a92..3ccd6d18190 100644
--- a/readthedocs/search/api.py
+++ b/readthedocs/search/api.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import itertools
 import logging
+from operator import attrgetter
 from pprint import pformat
 
 from rest_framework import generics, serializers
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ def get_inner_hits(self, obj):
                     '_source': hit._source.to_dict(),
                     'highlight': self._get_inner_hits_highlights(hit),
                 }
-                for hit in sorted(all_results, key=utils._get_hit_score, reverse=True)
+                for hit in sorted(all_results, key=attrgetter('_score'), reverse=True)
             ]
 
             return sorted_results
diff --git a/readthedocs/search/utils.py b/readthedocs/search/utils.py
index 031e8578150..0ff42ddcdd2 100644
--- a/readthedocs/search/utils.py
+++ b/readthedocs/search/utils.py
@@ -161,11 +161,6 @@ def _indexing_helper(html_objs_qs, wipe=False):
                 delete_objects_in_es.delay(**kwargs)
 
 
-def _get_hit_score(res):
-    """Returns the _score of a single ES search result hits."""
-    return res._score
-
-
 def _remove_newlines_from_dict(highlight):
     """
     Recursively change results to turn newlines into periods.
diff --git a/readthedocs/search/views.py b/readthedocs/search/views.py
index 61f28c9a3d9..af5f97446ff 100644
--- a/readthedocs/search/views.py
+++ b/readthedocs/search/views.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import collections
 import itertools
 import logging
+from operator import attrgetter
 from pprint import pformat
 
 from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404, render
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ def elastic_search(request, project_slug=None):
                                 hit.highlight.to_dict()
                             ),
                         }
-                        for hit in sorted(all_results, key=utils._get_hit_score, reverse=True)
+                        for hit in sorted(all_results, key=attrgetter('_score'), reverse=True)
                     ]
 
                     result.meta.inner_hits = sorted_results