diff --git a/src/term.c b/src/term.c
index 00890e1..77fe57f 100644
--- a/src/term.c
+++ b/src/term.c
@@ -420,6 +420,28 @@ termDuplicate (const Term term)
   return newterm;
 }
 
+//! Make a deep copy of a term node (one-level)
+/**
+ * Leaves are not copied.
+ *@return If the original was a leaf, then the pointer is simply returned. Otherwise, new memory is allocated and the node is copied recursively.
+ *\sa termDuplicateDeep()
+ */
+
+Term
+termNodeDuplicate (const Term term)
+{
+  Term newterm;
+
+  if (term == NULL)
+    return NULL;
+  if (realTermLeaf (term))
+    return term;
+
+  newterm = (Term) memAlloc (sizeof (struct term));
+  memcpy (newterm, term, sizeof (struct term));
+  return newterm;
+}
+
 //! Make a true deep copy of a term.
 /**
  * Currently, it this function is not to be used, so we can be sure leaf nodes occur only once in the system.
diff --git a/src/term.h b/src/term.h
index 72da251..33e8866 100644
--- a/src/term.h
+++ b/src/term.h
@@ -158,6 +158,7 @@ int termInTerm (Term t, Term tsub);
 void termPrint (Term term);
 void termTuplePrint (Term term);
 Term termDuplicate (const Term term);
+Term termNodeDuplicate (const Term term);
 Term termDuplicateDeep (const Term term);
 Term termDuplicateUV (Term term);
 void termDelete (const Term term);
diff --git a/src/termlist.c b/src/termlist.c
index 57bd39e..943d5e2 100644
--- a/src/termlist.c
+++ b/src/termlist.c
@@ -642,7 +642,7 @@ termLocal (Term t, Termlist fromlist, Termlist tolist, const int runid)
     }
   else
     {
-      Term newt = termDuplicate (t);
+      Term newt = termNodeDuplicate (t);
       if (realTermTuple (t))
 	{
 	  newt->left.op1 = termLocal (t->left.op1, fromlist, tolist, runid);