diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/41753 b/changelog/unreleased/41753
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..bd29bbc719ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/41753
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+Change: Expose createLocal() on ICacheFactory
+
+The cache factory has always been able to hand out a cache from the host local
+tier, but the method was missing from the public ICacheFactory interface, so
+core had to ask for it defensively and apps had no way to use it at all. It is
+now part of the interface, which lets values that are only meaningful on the
+machine that produced them be kept out of the cache shared between the nodes of
+an installation.
+
+Note for app developers: a class implementing OCP\ICacheFactory has to declare
+createLocal() from this release on.
+
+https://github.com/owncloud/core/pull/41753
diff --git a/lib/private/App/AppManager.php b/lib/private/App/AppManager.php
index b1480cd73590..4e73066b8a4a 100644
--- a/lib/private/App/AppManager.php
+++ b/lib/private/App/AppManager.php
@@ -31,8 +31,7 @@
 namespace OC\App;
 
 use OC_App;
-use OC\Memcache\ArrayCache;
-use OC\Memcache\NullCache;
+use OC\Memcache\LocalCacheFactory;
 use OC\Installer;
 use OCP\App\AppNotFoundException;
 use OCP\App\IAppManager;
@@ -120,14 +119,9 @@ public function __construct(
 		$this->dispatcher = $dispatcher;
 		$this->config = $config;
 
-		// TODO we have no public API for this
-		if (\method_exists($this->memCacheFactory, 'createLocal')) {
-			/* @phan-suppress-next-line PhanUndeclaredMethod */
-			$this->appInfo = $this->memCacheFactory->createLocal('app-info');
-		}
-		if ($this->appInfo === null || $this->appInfo instanceof NullCache) {
-			$this->appInfo = new ArrayCache('app-info');
-		}
+		// app info describes the apps installed on this machine, so it belongs in
+		// the host local tier
+		$this->appInfo = LocalCacheFactory::create($this->memCacheFactory, 'app-info');
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/lib/private/Memcache/LocalCacheFactory.php b/lib/private/Memcache/LocalCacheFactory.php
index 003cbeec2155..0e3ac480beaa 100644
--- a/lib/private/Memcache/LocalCacheFactory.php
+++ b/lib/private/Memcache/LocalCacheFactory.php
@@ -33,9 +33,8 @@
  * consume what any single node (or anything else able to talk to the backend)
  * wrote there.
  *
- * ICacheFactory does not declare createLocal(), so the tier is requested
- * defensively and a request scoped ArrayCache is used whenever a usable local
- * cache cannot be obtained.
+ * A request scoped ArrayCache is used whenever a usable local cache cannot be
+ * obtained.
  *
  * @package OC\Memcache
  */
@@ -51,11 +50,7 @@ class LocalCacheFactory {
 	 * @return ICache
 	 */
 	public static function create(ICacheFactory $factory, $prefix = '') {
-		$cache = null;
-		if (\method_exists($factory, 'createLocal')) {
-			/* @phan-suppress-next-line PhanUndeclaredMethod */
-			$cache = $factory->createLocal($prefix);
-		}
+		$cache = $factory->createLocal($prefix);
 		if (!$cache instanceof ICache || $cache instanceof NullCache) {
 			$cache = new ArrayCache($prefix);
 		}
diff --git a/lib/public/ICacheFactory.php b/lib/public/ICacheFactory.php
index 977bb31c42ee..988e741d1f55 100644
--- a/lib/public/ICacheFactory.php
+++ b/lib/public/ICacheFactory.php
@@ -40,6 +40,23 @@ interface ICacheFactory {
 	 */
 	public function create($prefix = '');
 
+	/**
+	 * Get a memory cache instance in the host local tier
+	 *
+	 * Unlike the cache returned by create(), this cache is not shared between the
+	 * nodes of an installation. Values which are only meaningful on the machine
+	 * which produced them - resolved paths on disk, results of inspecting the
+	 * local installation - belong here and not in the shared cache, where every
+	 * node would consume what any single node wrote.
+	 *
+	 * All entries added trough the cache instance will be namespaced by $prefix to prevent collisions between apps
+	 *
+	 * @param string $prefix
+	 * @return \OCP\ICache
+	 * @since 11.0.0
+	 */
+	public function createLocal($prefix = '');
+
 	/**
 	 * Check if any memory cache backend is available
 	 *
diff --git a/tests/lib/Memcache/LocalCacheFactoryTest.php b/tests/lib/Memcache/LocalCacheFactoryTest.php
index 374e54b79b63..a6d866681771 100644
--- a/tests/lib/Memcache/LocalCacheFactoryTest.php
+++ b/tests/lib/Memcache/LocalCacheFactoryTest.php
@@ -77,20 +77,12 @@ public function testNeverFallsBackToTheDistributedTier(): void {
 		$this->assertNull($factory->createDistributed('test')->get('key'));
 	}
 
-	public function testFallsBackWhenCreateLocalIsNotImplemented(): void {
-		// ICacheFactory does not declare createLocal(), so a bare interface
-		// mock has no such method
-		$factory = $this->createMock(ICacheFactory::class);
-
-		$this->assertInstanceOf(ArrayCache::class, LocalCacheFactory::create($factory, 'test'));
-	}
-
 	/**
 	 * @dataProvider unusableLocalCacheProvider
 	 * @param mixed $returnValue
 	 */
 	public function testFallsBackWhenCreateLocalReturnsSomethingUnusable($returnValue): void {
-		$factory = $this->createMock(FixedCacheFactory::class);
+		$factory = $this->createMock(ICacheFactory::class);
 		$factory->method('createLocal')->willReturn($returnValue);
 
 		$this->assertInstanceOf(ArrayCache::class, LocalCacheFactory::create($factory, 'test'));
@@ -103,6 +95,17 @@ public function unusableLocalCacheProvider() {
 		];
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * The helper calls createLocal() unconditionally, which is only safe as long
+	 * as every ICacheFactory has to provide it.
+	 */
+	public function testTheLocalTierIsPartOfThePublicApi(): void {
+		$this->assertTrue(
+			(new \ReflectionClass(ICacheFactory::class))->hasMethod('createLocal'),
+			'ICacheFactory declares createLocal()'
+		);
+	}
+
 	public function testPassesThroughThePrefix(): void {
 		$factory = new FixedCacheFactory($this->createMock(ICache::class));