diff --git a/examples/roundrobinrouter.cpp b/examples/roundrobinrouter.cpp
index 1a4a911b1..5d17a7114 100644
--- a/examples/roundrobinrouter.cpp
+++ b/examples/roundrobinrouter.cpp
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ RRRouterSession* RRRouter::create_session(MXS_SESSION* session)
         SERVER_REF* sref;
         for (sref = m_service->dbref; sref != NULL; sref = sref->next)
         {
-            if (SERVER_REF_IS_ACTIVE(sref) && (backends.size() < m_max_backends))
+            if (server_ref_is_active(sref) && (backends.size() < m_max_backends))
             {
                 /* Connect to server */
                 DCB* conn = dcb_connect(sref->server, session, sref->server->protocol().c_str());
diff --git a/include/maxscale/backend.hh b/include/maxscale/backend.hh
index 91819cfc9..ec0f2c5b9 100644
--- a/include/maxscale/backend.hh
+++ b/include/maxscale/backend.hh
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ public:
      */
     inline bool is_active() const
     {
-        return SERVER_REF_IS_ACTIVE(m_backend);
+        return server_ref_is_active(m_backend);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/include/maxscale/server.hh b/include/maxscale/server.hh
index 328ea4ece..2e9caf0ca 100644
--- a/include/maxscale/server.hh
+++ b/include/maxscale/server.hh
@@ -212,6 +212,16 @@ public:
      */
     void update_extra_port(int new_port);
 
+    /**
+     * Is the server valid and active? TODO: Rename once "is_active" is moved to internal class.
+     *
+     * @return True, if server has not been removed from the runtime configuration.
+     */
+    bool server_is_active() const
+    {
+        return is_active;
+    }
+
 protected:
     SERVER()
     {
@@ -241,17 +251,6 @@ private:
 // Bits providing general information
 #define SERVER_DISK_SPACE_EXHAUSTED (1 << 31)   /**<< The disk space of the server is exhausted */
 
-/**
- * Is the server valid and active?
- *
- * @param server The server
- * @return True, if server has not been removed from the runtime configuration.
- */
-inline bool server_is_active(const SERVER* server)
-{
-    return server->is_active;
-}
-
 inline bool status_is_usable(uint64_t status)
 {
     return (status & (SERVER_RUNNING | SERVER_MAINT)) == SERVER_RUNNING;
diff --git a/include/maxscale/service.hh b/include/maxscale/service.hh
index 04921d3c5..bbd43b970 100644
--- a/include/maxscale/service.hh
+++ b/include/maxscale/service.hh
@@ -59,8 +59,10 @@ typedef struct server_ref_t
     bool                 active;        /**< Whether this reference is valid and in use*/
 } SERVER_REF;
 
-/** Macro to check whether a SERVER_REF is active */
-#define SERVER_REF_IS_ACTIVE(ref) (ref->active && server_is_active(ref->server))
+inline bool server_ref_is_active(const SERVER_REF* ref)
+{
+    return ref->active && ref->server->server_is_active();
+}
 
 #define SERVICE_MAX_RETRY_INTERVAL 3600     /*< The maximum interval between service start retries */
 
diff --git a/server/core/server.cc b/server/core/server.cc
index ed49e15a2..89bcef451 100644
--- a/server/core/server.cc
+++ b/server/core/server.cc
@@ -499,7 +499,7 @@ void Server::dprintServer(DCB* dcb, const Server* srv)
 void Server::print_to_dcb(DCB* dcb) const
 {
     const Server* server = this;
-    if (!server_is_active(server))
+    if (!server->server_is_active())
     {
         return;
     }
@@ -870,7 +870,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<ResultSet> serverGetList()
     Guard guard(this_unit.all_servers_lock);
     for (Server* server : this_unit.all_servers)
     {
-        if (server_is_active(server))
+        if (server->server_is_active())
         {
             string stat = mxs::server_status(server);
             set->add_row({server->name(), server->address, std::to_string(server->port),
@@ -1274,7 +1274,7 @@ json_t* server_list_to_json(const char* host)
     Guard guard(this_unit.all_servers_lock);
     for (Server* server : this_unit.all_servers)
     {
-        if (server_is_active(server))
+        if (server->server_is_active())
         {
             json_array_append_new(data, server_to_json_data(server, host));
         }
diff --git a/server/core/service.cc b/server/core/service.cc
index 557fdc7fb..60f6b0290 100644
--- a/server/core/service.cc
+++ b/server/core/service.cc
@@ -913,7 +913,7 @@ void dprintService(DCB* dcb, SERVICE* svc)
     dcb_printf(dcb, "\tBackend databases:\n");
     while (server)
     {
-        if (SERVER_REF_IS_ACTIVE(server))
+        if (server_ref_is_active(server))
         {
             dcb_printf(dcb,
                        "\t\t[%s]:%d    Protocol: %s    Name: %s\n",
@@ -974,7 +974,7 @@ void dListServices(DCB* dcb)
             bool first = true;
             while (server_ref)
             {
-                if (SERVER_REF_IS_ACTIVE(server_ref))
+                if (server_ref_is_active(server_ref))
                 {
                     if (first)
                     {
@@ -1479,7 +1479,7 @@ bool Service::dump_config(const char* filename) const
 
         for (SERVER_REF* db = dbref; db; db = db->next)
         {
-            if (SERVER_REF_IS_ACTIVE(db))
+            if (server_ref_is_active(db))
             {
                 dprintf(file, "%s%s", sep, db->server->name());
                 sep = ",";
@@ -1617,7 +1617,7 @@ static inline bool have_active_servers(const SERVICE* service)
 {
     for (SERVER_REF* ref = service->dbref; ref; ref = ref->next)
     {
-        if (SERVER_REF_IS_ACTIVE(ref))
+        if (server_ref_is_active(ref))
         {
             return true;
         }
@@ -1707,7 +1707,7 @@ json_t* Service::json_relationships(const char* host) const
 
         for (SERVER_REF* ref = dbref; ref; ref = ref->next)
         {
-            if (SERVER_REF_IS_ACTIVE(ref))
+            if (server_ref_is_active(ref))
             {
                 mxs_json_add_relation(servers, ref->server->name(), CN_SERVERS);
             }
@@ -1813,7 +1813,7 @@ json_t* service_relations_to_server(const SERVER* server, const char* host)
 
         for (SERVER_REF* ref = service->dbref; ref; ref = ref->next)
         {
-            if (ref->server == server && SERVER_REF_IS_ACTIVE(ref))
+            if (ref->server == server && server_ref_is_active(ref))
             {
                 names.push_back(service->name);
             }
diff --git a/server/modules/authenticator/GSSAPI/GSSAPIAuth/gssapi_auth.cc b/server/modules/authenticator/GSSAPI/GSSAPIAuth/gssapi_auth.cc
index 3b961da84..44476f328 100644
--- a/server/modules/authenticator/GSSAPI/GSSAPIAuth/gssapi_auth.cc
+++ b/server/modules/authenticator/GSSAPI/GSSAPIAuth/gssapi_auth.cc
@@ -636,7 +636,7 @@ int gssapi_auth_load_users(Listener* listener)
 
         for (SERVER_REF* servers = listener->service()->dbref; servers; servers = servers->next)
         {
-            if (!SERVER_REF_IS_ACTIVE(servers) || !server_is_active(servers->server))
+            if (!server_ref_is_active(servers) || !servers->server->server_is_active())
             {
                 continue;
             }
diff --git a/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/dbusers.cc b/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/dbusers.cc
index 1d84efe38..a3e68f8f5 100644
--- a/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/dbusers.cc
+++ b/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/dbusers.cc
@@ -1220,7 +1220,7 @@ static int get_users(Listener* listener, bool skip_local)
 
     for (server = service->dbref; !maxscale_is_shutting_down() && server; server = server->next)
     {
-        if (!SERVER_REF_IS_ACTIVE(server) || !server_is_active(server->server)
+        if (!server_ref_is_active(server) || !server->server->server_is_active()
             || (skip_local && server_is_mxs_service(server->server))
             || !server_is_running(server->server))
         {
diff --git a/server/modules/routing/hintrouter/hintrouter.cc b/server/modules/routing/hintrouter/hintrouter.cc
index 9adbea3cf..722a2c9ea 100644
--- a/server/modules/routing/hintrouter/hintrouter.cc
+++ b/server/modules/routing/hintrouter/hintrouter.cc
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ HintRouterSession* HintRouter::newSession(MXS_SESSION* pSession)
     /* Go through the server references, find master and slaves */
     for (SERVER_REF* pSref = pSession->service->dbref; pSref; pSref = pSref->next)
     {
-        if (SERVER_REF_IS_ACTIVE(pSref))
+        if (server_ref_is_active(pSref))
         {
             if (server_is_master(pSref->server))
             {
diff --git a/server/modules/routing/readconnroute/readconnroute.cc b/server/modules/routing/readconnroute/readconnroute.cc
index d7d89f49a..5072bed96 100644
--- a/server/modules/routing/readconnroute/readconnroute.cc
+++ b/server/modules/routing/readconnroute/readconnroute.cc
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ static MXS_ROUTER_SESSION* newSession(MXS_ROUTER* instance, MXS_SESSION* session
      */
     for (SERVER_REF* ref = inst->service->dbref; ref; ref = ref->next)
     {
-        if (!SERVER_REF_IS_ACTIVE(ref) || server_is_in_maint(ref->server))
+        if (!server_ref_is_active(ref) || server_is_in_maint(ref->server))
         {
             continue;
         }