diff --git a/src/c_api/c_api_symbolic.cc b/src/c_api/c_api_symbolic.cc
index 4b9814e46e6d..0cb296bd61f9 100644
--- a/src/c_api/c_api_symbolic.cc
+++ b/src/c_api/c_api_symbolic.cc
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include "nnvm/pass_functions.h"
 #include "nnvm/symbolic.h"
 #include "./c_api_common.h"
+#include "../common/exec_utils.h"
 #include "../operator/operator_common.h"
 #include "../executor/exec_pass.h"
 #include "../operator/subgraph/subgraph_property.h"
@@ -1213,8 +1214,9 @@ int MXOptimizeForBackend(SymbolHandle sym_handle,
       arg_dtypes.push_back(in_arg.dtype());
       arg_stypes.push_back(in_arg.storage_type());
       in_arg_ctxes[i] = in_arg.ctx();
-    orig_g = InferForwardAttrs(orig_g, arg_shapes, arg_dtypes, arg_stypes,
-                               default_ctx, ctx_map, in_arg_ctxes, aux_state_ctxes, true);
+    }
+    orig_g = common::InferForwardAttrs(orig_g, arg_shapes, arg_dtypes, arg_stypes, default_ctx,
+                                       ctx_map, in_arg_ctxes, aux_state_ctxes, true);
   }
   std::vector<std::pair<std::string, std::string>> options_map;
   for (mx_uint i = 0; i < num_options; ++i) {
diff --git a/src/common/exec_utils.h b/src/common/exec_utils.h
index d8b7a33bf22b..8377744b4aee 100644
--- a/src/common/exec_utils.h
+++ b/src/common/exec_utils.h
@@ -621,6 +621,42 @@ inline nnvm::Graph AssignContext(nnvm::Graph g,
   return g;
 }
 
+/*!
+ * \brief infers shapes, dtypes, stypes, contexts for the forward graph
+ */
+inline nnvm::Graph InferForwardAttrs(nnvm::Graph g,
+                                     mxnet::ShapeVector arg_shapes,
+                                     nnvm::DTypeVector arg_dtypes,
+                                     StorageTypeVector arg_stypes,
+                                     const Context& default_ctx,
+                                     const std::map<std::string, Context>& ctx_map,
+                                     const std::vector<Context>& in_arg_ctxes,
+                                     const std::vector<Context>& aux_state_ctxes,
+                                     bool partial_shape = false) {
+  const auto& indexed_graph = g.indexed_graph();
+  const auto num_forward_inputs = indexed_graph.input_nodes().size();
+  g = AssignContext(g, default_ctx, ctx_map, in_arg_ctxes, {},
+                   aux_state_ctxes, {}, num_forward_inputs, g.outputs.size());
+  g = exec::InferShape(std::move(g), std::move(arg_shapes), "__shape__");
+  if (g.GetAttr<size_t>("shape_num_unknown_nodes") != 0U) {
+    if (!partial_shape) {
+      HandleInferShapeError(num_forward_inputs, indexed_graph,
+                            g.GetAttr<mxnet::ShapeVector>("shape"));
+    }
+  }
+  g = exec::InferType(std::move(g), std::move(arg_dtypes), "__dtype__");
+  if (g.GetAttr<size_t>("dtype_num_unknown_nodes") != 0U) {
+    HandleInferTypeError(num_forward_inputs, indexed_graph,
+                         g.GetAttr<nnvm::DTypeVector>("dtype"));
+  }
+  g = exec::InferStorageType(std::move(g), std::move(arg_stypes), "__storage_type__");
+  if (g.GetAttr<size_t>("storage_type_num_unknown_nodes") != 0U) {
+    HandleInferStorageTypeError(num_forward_inputs, indexed_graph,
+                                g.GetAttr<StorageTypeVector>("storage_type"));
+  }
+  return g;
+}
+
 }  // namespace common
 }  // namespace mxnet
 #endif  // MXNET_COMMON_EXEC_UTILS_H_
diff --git a/src/executor/graph_executor.cc b/src/executor/graph_executor.cc
index c5da0a0cf90d..0a3311f1a055 100644
--- a/src/executor/graph_executor.cc
+++ b/src/executor/graph_executor.cc
@@ -1602,40 +1602,6 @@ GraphExecutor::CachedSegOpr GraphExecutor::CreateCachedSegOpr(size_t topo_start,
   return ret;
 }
 
-// Infer shapes, dtypes, stypes, contexts for the forward graph
-static nnvm::Graph InferForwardAttrs(nnvm::Graph g,
-                                     mxnet::ShapeVector arg_shapes,
-                                     nnvm::DTypeVector arg_dtypes,
-                                     StorageTypeVector arg_stypes,
-                                     const Context& default_ctx,
-                                     const std::map<std::string, Context>& ctx_map,
-                                     const std::vector<Context>& in_arg_ctxes,
-                                     const std::vector<Context>& aux_state_ctxes,
-                                     bool partial_shape = false) {
-  const auto& indexed_graph = g.indexed_graph();
-  const auto num_forward_inputs = indexed_graph.input_nodes().size();
-  g = AssignContext(g, default_ctx, ctx_map, in_arg_ctxes, {},
-                   aux_state_ctxes, {}, num_forward_inputs, g.outputs.size());
-  g = InferShape(std::move(g), std::move(arg_shapes), "__shape__");
-  if (g.GetAttr<size_t>("shape_num_unknown_nodes") != 0U) {
-    if (!partial_shape) {
-      HandleInferShapeError(num_forward_inputs, indexed_graph,
-                            g.GetAttr<mxnet::ShapeVector>("shape"));
-    }
-  }
-  g = InferType(std::move(g), std::move(arg_dtypes), "__dtype__");
-  if (g.GetAttr<size_t>("dtype_num_unknown_nodes") != 0U) {
-    HandleInferTypeError(num_forward_inputs, indexed_graph,
-                         g.GetAttr<nnvm::DTypeVector>("dtype"));
-  }
-  g = InferStorageType(std::move(g), std::move(arg_stypes), "__storage_type__");
-  if (g.GetAttr<size_t>("storage_type_num_unknown_nodes") != 0U) {
-    HandleInferStorageTypeError(num_forward_inputs, indexed_graph,
-                                g.GetAttr<StorageTypeVector>("storage_type"));
-  }
-  return g;
-}
-
 static bool SubgraphBackendCheck(const op::SubgraphBackendPtr& backend,
                                  const Context& default_ctx,
                                  bool verbose = false) {
diff --git a/src/operator/subgraph/subgraph_property.h b/src/operator/subgraph/subgraph_property.h
index 7d87043c8196..f5c8632fd0a6 100644
--- a/src/operator/subgraph/subgraph_property.h
+++ b/src/operator/subgraph/subgraph_property.h
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include <unordered_map>
 #include <vector>
 #include <string>
+#include <utility>
 
 namespace mxnet {
 namespace op {