diff --git a/src/runtime2/communication.rs b/src/runtime2/communication.rs
index 0d2fd6149906e06134d68780b528a22d5a1101b9..7f84183fdc9885c463fad673a24142500abeceb7 100644
--- a/src/runtime2/communication.rs
+++ b/src/runtime2/communication.rs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ pub enum PortKind {
     Getter,
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub enum PortState {
     Open,
     Blocked,
@@ -189,6 +189,16 @@ impl Message {
                 return None,
         }
     }
+
+    pub(crate) fn modify_target_port(&mut self, port_id: PortId) {
+        match self {
+            Message::Data(v) =>
+                v.data_header.target_port = port_id,
+            Message::Control(v) =>
+                v.target_port_id = Some(port_id),
+            Message::Sync(_) => unreachable!(), // should never be called for this message type
+        }
+    }
 }