diff --git a/blockchain/bench_test.go b/blockchain/bench_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f7872569
--- /dev/null
+++ b/blockchain/bench_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2015 Conformal Systems LLC.
+// Use of this source code is governed by an ISC
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package blockchain_test
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/btcsuite/btcd/blockchain"
+	"github.com/btcsuite/btcutil"
+)
+
+// BenchmarkIsCoinBase performs a simple benchmark against the IsCoinBase
+// function.
+func BenchmarkIsCoinBase(b *testing.B) {
+	tx, _ := btcutil.NewBlock(&Block100000).Tx(1)
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		blockchain.IsCoinBase(tx)
+	}
+}
+
+// BenchmarkIsCoinBaseTx performs a simple benchmark against the IsCoinBaseTx
+// function.
+func BenchmarkIsCoinBaseTx(b *testing.B) {
+	tx := Block100000.Transactions[1]
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		blockchain.IsCoinBaseTx(tx)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/blockchain/validate.go b/blockchain/validate.go
index df6284c4..8604b9ef 100644
--- a/blockchain/validate.go
+++ b/blockchain/validate.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// Copyright (c) 2013-2014 Conformal Systems LLC.
+// Copyright (c) 2013-2015 Conformal Systems LLC.
 // Use of this source code is governed by an ISC
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
@@ -89,14 +89,15 @@ func isNullOutpoint(outpoint *wire.OutPoint) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
-// IsCoinBase determines whether or not a transaction is a coinbase.  A coinbase
-// is a special transaction created by miners that has no inputs.  This is
-// represented in the block chain by a transaction with a single input that has
-// a previous output transaction index set to the maximum value along with a
+// IsCoinBaseTx determines whether or not a transaction is a coinbase.  A
+// coinbase is a special transaction created by miners that has no inputs.  This
+// is represented in the block chain by a transaction with a single input that
+// has a previous output transaction index set to the maximum value along with a
 // zero hash.
-func IsCoinBase(tx *btcutil.Tx) bool {
-	msgTx := tx.MsgTx()
-
+//
+// This function only differs from IsCoinBase in that it works with a raw wire
+// transaction as opposed to a higher level util transaction.
+func IsCoinBaseTx(msgTx *wire.MsgTx) bool {
 	// A coin base must only have one transaction input.
 	if len(msgTx.TxIn) != 1 {
 		return false
@@ -104,7 +105,7 @@ func IsCoinBase(tx *btcutil.Tx) bool {
 
 	// The previous output of a coin base must have a max value index and
 	// a zero hash.
-	prevOut := msgTx.TxIn[0].PreviousOutPoint
+	prevOut := &msgTx.TxIn[0].PreviousOutPoint
 	if prevOut.Index != math.MaxUint32 || !prevOut.Hash.IsEqual(zeroHash) {
 		return false
 	}
@@ -112,6 +113,18 @@ func IsCoinBase(tx *btcutil.Tx) bool {
 	return true
 }
 
+// IsCoinBase determines whether or not a transaction is a coinbase.  A coinbase
+// is a special transaction created by miners that has no inputs.  This is
+// represented in the block chain by a transaction with a single input that has
+// a previous output transaction index set to the maximum value along with a
+// zero hash.
+//
+// This function only differs from IsCoinBaseTx in that it works with a higher
+// level util transaction as opposed to a raw wire transaction.
+func IsCoinBase(tx *btcutil.Tx) bool {
+	return IsCoinBaseTx(tx.MsgTx())
+}
+
 // IsFinalizedTransaction determines whether or not a transaction is finalized.
 func IsFinalizedTransaction(tx *btcutil.Tx, blockHeight int64, blockTime time.Time) bool {
 	msgTx := tx.MsgTx()