diff --git a/pkg/netutil/netutil.go b/pkg/netutil/netutil.go
index 94319204c8b..962bcc665bf 100644
--- a/pkg/netutil/netutil.go
+++ b/pkg/netutil/netutil.go
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ func (e *CNIEnv) generateNetworkConfig(name string, labels []string, plugins []C
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("needs CNI plugin %q to be installed in CNI_PATH (%q), see https://github.com/containernetworking/plugins/releases: %w", f.GetPluginType(), e.Path, err)
 		}
 	}
-	id := NetworkID(name)
+	id := networkID(name)
 	labelsMap := strutil.ConvertKVStringsToMap(labels)
 
 	conf := &cniNetworkConfig{
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ func nerdctlIDLabels(b []byte) (*string, *map[string]string) {
 	return idl.ID, idl.Labels
 }
 
-func NetworkID(name string) string {
+func networkID(name string) string {
 	hash := sha256.Sum256([]byte(name))
 	return hex.EncodeToString(hash[:])
 }
diff --git a/pkg/netutil/netutil_unix.go b/pkg/netutil/netutil_unix.go
index 70fd435c2d9..0e6c7b6c9b5 100644
--- a/pkg/netutil/netutil_unix.go
+++ b/pkg/netutil/netutil_unix.go
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ func (e *CNIEnv) generateCNIPlugins(driver string, name string, ipam map[string]
 		if name == DefaultNetworkName {
 			bridge = newBridgePlugin("nerdctl0")
 		} else {
-			bridge = newBridgePlugin("br-" + NetworkID(name)[:12])
+			bridge = newBridgePlugin("br-" + networkID(name)[:12])
 		}
 		bridge.MTU = mtu
 		bridge.IPAM = ipam