diff --git a/src/cdomain/value/cdomains/threadIdDomain.ml b/src/cdomain/value/cdomains/threadIdDomain.ml
index e7b915df3d..882717f01a 100644
--- a/src/cdomain/value/cdomains/threadIdDomain.ml
+++ b/src/cdomain/value/cdomains/threadIdDomain.ml
@@ -147,40 +147,36 @@ struct
       (* We do not consider a thread its own parent *)
       false
     else
-      let cdef_ancestor = P.common_suffix p p' in
-      P.equal p cdef_ancestor
+      match GobList.remove_common_prefix Base.equal (List.rev p) (List.rev p') with
+      | [], _ -> true
+      | _ :: _, _ -> false
 
   let may_create ((p, s) as t) ((p', s') as t') =
     if is_unique t' then
       is_must_parent t t' (* unique must be created by something unique (that's a prefix) *)
     else if is_unique t then ( (* t' is already non-unique *)
-      let cdef_ancestor = P.common_suffix p p' in
-      if P.equal cdef_ancestor p then ( (* p is prefix of p' *)
-        (* let dp = elements added to prefix *)
+      match GobList.remove_common_prefix Base.equal (List.rev p) (List.rev p') with
+      | [], dp -> (* p is prefix of p' *)
+        (* dp = elements added to prefix *)
         (* S.disjoint (S.of_list p) (S.union (S.of_list dp) s') (* added elements must not appear in p, otherwise compose would become shorter and non-unique *) *)
         (* no need to check disjointness, because if t' is well-formed, then dp and s' won't have anything from cdef_ancestor anyway *)
         true
-      )
-      else if P.equal cdef_ancestor p' then ( (* p is not prefix of p', but p' is prefix of p *)
-        (* TODO: avoid length calculations? *)
-        let dp' = BatList.take (List.length p - List.length cdef_ancestor) p in (* elements removed from prefix *)
+      | dp', [] -> (* p is not prefix of p', but p' is prefix of p *)
+        (* dp' = elements removed from prefix *)
         S.subset (S.of_list dp') s' (* removed elements become part of set, must be contained, because compose can only add them *)
         (* no need to check disjointness, because if t' is well-formed, then s' won't have anything from cdef_ancestor anyway *)
-      )
-      else
-        false (* prefixes must not be incompatible (one is prefix of another or vice versa), because compose cannot fix incompatibility there *)
+      | _ :: _, _ :: _ -> (* prefixes must not be incompatible (one is prefix of another or vice versa), because compose cannot fix incompatibility there *)
+        false
     )
     else ( (* both are non-unique *)
-      let cdef_ancestor = P.common_suffix p p' in
-      if P.equal cdef_ancestor p' then ( (* p' is prefix of p *)
-        (* TODO: avoid length calculations? *)
-        let dp' = BatList.take (List.length p - List.length cdef_ancestor) p in (* elements removed from prefix *)
+      match GobList.remove_common_prefix Base.equal (List.rev p) (List.rev p') with
+      | dp', [] -> (* p' is prefix of p *)
+        (* dp' = elements removed from prefix *)
         S.subset (S.union (S.of_list dp') s) s' (* elements must be contained, because compose can only add them *)
         (* can just subset s' thanks to well-formedness conditions *)
         (* no need to check disjointness, because if t' is well-formed, then s' won't have anything from cdef_ancestor anyway *)
-      )
-      else
-        false (* p' must be prefix of p, because non-unique compose can only shorten prefix *)
+      | _, _ :: _ -> (* p' must be prefix of p, because non-unique compose can only shorten prefix *)
+        false
     )
 
   let compose ((p, s) as current) ni =
diff --git a/src/common/domains/printable.ml b/src/common/domains/printable.ml
index 93d3f99edc..9ef9e7e79a 100644
--- a/src/common/domains/printable.ml
+++ b/src/common/domains/printable.ml
@@ -631,16 +631,6 @@ struct
     BatPrintf.fprintf f "<value>\n<map>\n";
     loop 0 xs;
     BatPrintf.fprintf f "</map>\n</value>\n"
-
-  let common_prefix x y =
-    let rec helper acc x y =
-      match x,y with
-      | x::xs, y::ys when Base.equal x y-> helper (x::acc) xs ys
-      | _ -> acc
-    in
-    List.rev (helper [] x y)
-
-  let common_suffix x y = List.rev (common_prefix (List.rev x) (List.rev y))
 end
 
 module type ChainParams = sig
diff --git a/src/util/std/gobList.ml b/src/util/std/gobList.ml
index 3743b0127e..f0b3b99932 100644
--- a/src/util/std/gobList.ml
+++ b/src/util/std/gobList.ml
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ let rec fold_while_some (f : 'a -> 'b -> 'a option) (acc: 'a) (xs: 'b list): 'a
 
 let equal = List.eq
 
+let rec remove_common_prefix eq l1 l2 =
+  match l1, l2 with
+  | x1 :: l1', x2 :: l2' when eq x1 x2 -> remove_common_prefix eq l1' l2'
+  | _, _ -> (l1, l2)
+
 (** Given a predicate and a list, returns two lists [(l1, l2)].
     [l1] contains the prefix of the list until the last element that satisfies the predicate, [l2] contains all subsequent elements. The order of elements is preserved. *)
 let until_last_with (pred: 'a -> bool) (xs: 'a list) =