diff --git a/pkg/cri/config/config.go b/pkg/cri/config/config.go
index 279a2a56d..038ad19f5 100644
--- a/pkg/cri/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/cri/config/config.go
@@ -74,11 +74,11 @@ type Runtime struct {
 	// while using default snapshotters for operational simplicity.
 	// See https://github.com/containerd/containerd/issues/6657 for details.
 	Snapshotter string `toml:"snapshotter" json:"snapshotter"`
-	// SandboxMode defines which sandbox runtime to use when scheduling pods
+	// Sandboxer defines which sandbox runtime to use when scheduling pods
 	// This features requires the new CRI server implementation (enabled by default in 2.0)
 	// shim - means use whatever Controller implementation provided by shim (e.g. use RemoteController).
 	// podsandbox - means use Controller implementation from sbserver podsandbox package.
-	SandboxMode string `toml:"sandbox_mode" json:"sandboxMode"`
+	Sandboxer string `toml:"sandboxer" json:"sandboxer"`
 }
 
 // ContainerdConfig contains toml config related to containerd
@@ -383,8 +383,8 @@ func ValidatePluginConfig(ctx context.Context, c *PluginConfig) error {
 			return errors.New("`privileged_without_host_devices_all_devices_allowed` requires `privileged_without_host_devices` to be enabled")
 		}
 		// If empty, use default podSandbox mode
-		if len(r.SandboxMode) == 0 {
-			r.SandboxMode = string(ModePodSandbox)
+		if len(r.Sandboxer) == 0 {
+			r.Sandboxer = string(ModePodSandbox)
 			c.ContainerdConfig.Runtimes[k] = r
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/cri/config/config_test.go b/pkg/cri/config/config_test.go
index 171228e99..5c021857e 100644
--- a/pkg/cri/config/config_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cri/config/config_test.go
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ func TestValidateConfig(t *testing.T) {
 					DefaultRuntimeName: RuntimeDefault,
 					Runtimes: map[string]Runtime{
 						RuntimeDefault: {
-							SandboxMode: string(ModePodSandbox),
+							Sandboxer: string(ModePodSandbox),
 						},
 					},
 				},
diff --git a/pkg/cri/config/config_unix.go b/pkg/cri/config/config_unix.go
index 29476ee4c..76bbe9148 100644
--- a/pkg/cri/config/config_unix.go
+++ b/pkg/cri/config/config_unix.go
@@ -69,9 +69,9 @@ func DefaultConfig() PluginConfig {
 			DefaultRuntimeName: "runc",
 			Runtimes: map[string]Runtime{
 				"runc": {
-					Type:        "io.containerd.runc.v2",
-					Options:     m,
-					SandboxMode: string(ModePodSandbox),
+					Type:      "io.containerd.runc.v2",
+					Options:   m,
+					Sandboxer: string(ModePodSandbox),
 				},
 			},
 			DisableSnapshotAnnotations: true,
diff --git a/pkg/cri/server/container_create.go b/pkg/cri/server/container_create.go
index b1bf08960..5c2e73267 100644
--- a/pkg/cri/server/container_create.go
+++ b/pkg/cri/server/container_create.go
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ func (c *criService) CreateContainer(ctx context.Context, r *runtime.CreateConta
 	)
 
 	// When using sandboxed shims, containerd's runtime needs to know which sandbox shim instance to use.
-	if ociRuntime.SandboxMode == string(criconfig.ModeShim) {
+	if ociRuntime.Sandboxer == string(criconfig.ModeShim) {
 		opts = append(opts, containerd.WithSandbox(sandboxID))
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/cri/server/sandbox_run.go b/pkg/cri/server/sandbox_run.go
index 6dbecdc38..9a55c04f1 100644
--- a/pkg/cri/server/sandbox_run.go
+++ b/pkg/cri/server/sandbox_run.go
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ func (c *criService) RunPodSandbox(ctx context.Context, r *runtime.RunPodSandbox
 	}
 
 	// TODO: get rid of this. sandbox object should no longer have Container field.
-	if ociRuntime.SandboxMode == string(criconfig.ModePodSandbox) {
+	if ociRuntime.Sandboxer == string(criconfig.ModePodSandbox) {
 		container, err := c.client.LoadContainer(ctx, id)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to load container %q for sandbox: %w", id, err)
@@ -691,13 +691,13 @@ func (c *criService) getSandboxController(config *runtime.PodSandboxConfig, runt
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get sandbox runtime: %w", err)
 	}
 	// Validate mode
-	if err = ValidateMode(ociRuntime.SandboxMode); err != nil {
+	if err = ValidateMode(ociRuntime.Sandboxer); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	// Use sandbox controller to delete sandbox
-	controller, exist := c.sandboxControllers[criconfig.SandboxControllerMode(ociRuntime.SandboxMode)]
+	controller, exist := c.sandboxControllers[criconfig.SandboxControllerMode(ociRuntime.Sandboxer)]
 	if !exist {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("sandbox controller %s not exist", ociRuntime.SandboxMode)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("sandbox controller %s not exist", ociRuntime.Sandboxer)
 	}
 	return controller, nil
 }