diff --git a/pkg/cri/util/strings.go b/pkg/cri/util/strings.go
index df1a5c91a..1dfb28c3d 100644
--- a/pkg/cri/util/strings.go
+++ b/pkg/cri/util/strings.go
@@ -16,7 +16,11 @@
 
 package util
 
-import "strings"
+import (
+	"strings"
+
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
+)
 
 // InStringSlice checks whether a string is inside a string slice.
 // Comparison is case insensitive.
@@ -44,16 +48,7 @@ func SubtractStringSlice(ss []string, str string) []string {
 
 // MergeStringSlices merges 2 string slices into one and remove duplicated elements.
 func MergeStringSlices(a []string, b []string) []string {
-	set := map[string]struct{}{}
-	for _, s := range a {
-		set[s] = struct{}{}
-	}
-	for _, s := range b {
-		set[s] = struct{}{}
-	}
-	var ss []string
-	for s := range set {
-		ss = append(ss, s)
-	}
-	return ss
+	set := sets.NewString(a...)
+	set.Insert(b...)
+	return set.UnsortedList()
 }