diff --git a/includes/datasource_multiple.inc b/includes/datasource_multiple.inc
index 13b8881..75adf45 100644
--- a/includes/datasource_multiple.inc
+++ b/includes/datasource_multiple.inc
@@ -91,6 +91,14 @@ class SearchApiCombinedEntityDataSourceController extends SearchApiAbstractDataS
         'type' => 'token',
         'options list' => 'search_api_combined_bundle_options_list',
       ),
+      'item_label' => array(
+        'label' => t('Label'),
+        'description' => t('The label of the item.'),
+        'type' => 'text',
+        // Since this needs a bit more computation than the others, we don't
+        // include it always when loading the item but use a getter callback.
+        'getter callback' => 'search_api_get_multi_type_item_label',
+      ),
     );
 
     foreach ($this->getSelectedEntityTypeOptions() as $type => $label) {
@@ -115,8 +123,7 @@ class SearchApiCombinedEntityDataSourceController extends SearchApiAbstractDataS
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function getItemLabel($item) {
-    $label = entity_label($item->item_type, $item->{$item->item_type});
-    return $label ? $label : NULL;
+    return search_api_get_multi_type_item_label($item);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/search_api.module b/search_api.module
index 08919e9..dcec490 100644
--- a/search_api.module
+++ b/search_api.module
@@ -2884,6 +2884,24 @@ function search_api_combined_bundle_options_list() {
 }
 
 /**
+ * Retrieves a human-readable label for a multi-type index item.
+ *
+ * Provided as a non-object alternative to
+ * SearchApiCombinedEntityDataSourceController::getItemLabel() so it can be used
+ * as a getter callback.
+ *
+ * @param object $item
+ *   An item of the "multiple" item type.
+ *
+ * @return string|null
+ *   Either a human-readable label for the item, or NULL if none is available.
+ */
+function search_api_get_multi_type_item_label($item) {
+  $label = entity_label($item->item_type, $item->{$item->item_type});
+  return $label ? $label : NULL;
+}
+
+/**
  * Shutdown function which indexes all queued items, if any.
  */
 function _search_api_index_queued_items() {