diff --git a/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/geom/main.py b/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/geom/main.py
index f0855cffdf..cd25bef0f0 100644
--- a/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/geom/main.py
+++ b/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/geom/main.py
@@ -210,8 +210,7 @@ def create_shape(settings, inst, repr=None):
     )
 
 
-def iterate(settings, file_or_filename, num_threads=1, include=None, exclude=None):
-    it = iterator(settings, file_or_filename, num_threads, include, exclude)
+def consume_iterator(it):
     if it.initialize():
         while True:
             yield it.get()
@@ -219,6 +218,11 @@ def iterate(settings, file_or_filename, num_threads=1, include=None, exclude=Non
                 break
 
 
+def iterate(settings, file_or_filename, num_threads=1, include=None, exclude=None):
+    it = iterator(settings, file_or_filename, num_threads, include, exclude)
+    yield from consume_iterator(it)
+
+
 def make_shape_function(fn):
     def entity_instance_or_none(e):
         return None if e is None else entity_instance(e)