diff --git a/Data/Refcount.hs b/Data/Refcount.hs
--- a/Data/Refcount.hs
+++ b/Data/Refcount.hs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 module Data.Refcount ( Refcount (..)
+                     , refcount
                      , refcounted
                      , insertRef
                      , deleteRef
@@ -6,6 +7,7 @@
                      ) where
 
 import Control.Applicative ((<$>))
+import Data.Maybe
 import Data.Monoid
 import Data.Hashable
 import Data.HashMap.Strict as HashMap
@@ -20,6 +22,10 @@
 -- | Retrieve the refcounted objects.
 refcounted :: Refcount a -> [a]
 refcounted = keys . unRefcount
+
+-- | Lookup the count of an object.
+refcount :: (Hashable a, Eq a) => a -> Refcount a -> Int
+refcount a (Refcount h) = fromMaybe 0 $ HashMap.lookup a h
 
 -- | Insert an object and increment its count.
 insertRef :: (Hashable a, Eq a) => a -> Refcount a -> Refcount a
diff --git a/refcount.cabal b/refcount.cabal
--- a/refcount.cabal
+++ b/refcount.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:               refcount
-version:            0.0.0
+version:            0.0.1
 synopsis:           Container with element counts
 category:           Data
 license:            MIT
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 library
     hs-source-dirs:   .
-    ghc-options:      -Wall -threaded -rtsopts=all
+    ghc-options:      -Wall
     exposed-modules:  Data.Refcount
 
     build-depends: base == 4.*