diff --git a/core/metadata/containers.go b/core/metadata/containers.go
index 0c65489bd..6064944f0 100644
--- a/core/metadata/containers.go
+++ b/core/metadata/containers.go
@@ -25,11 +25,11 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/containers"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/metadata/boltutil"
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/identifiers"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/labels"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/errdefs"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/filters"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/identifiers"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/protobuf/proto"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/protobuf/types"
 	"github.com/containerd/typeurl/v2"
diff --git a/core/metadata/namespaces.go b/core/metadata/namespaces.go
index 542892301..d4a402540 100644
--- a/core/metadata/namespaces.go
+++ b/core/metadata/namespaces.go
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/identifiers"
 	l "github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/labels"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/errdefs"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/identifiers"
 	bolt "go.etcd.io/bbolt"
 )
 
diff --git a/core/metadata/sandbox.go b/core/metadata/sandbox.go
index dd377edad..a62ce26f2 100644
--- a/core/metadata/sandbox.go
+++ b/core/metadata/sandbox.go
@@ -25,10 +25,10 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/metadata/boltutil"
 	api "github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/sandbox"
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/identifiers"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/errdefs"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/filters"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/identifiers"
 	"github.com/containerd/typeurl/v2"
 	"go.etcd.io/bbolt"
 )
diff --git a/namespaces/context.go b/namespaces/context.go
index cb923f06c..2cd50d640 100644
--- a/namespaces/context.go
+++ b/namespaces/context.go
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/identifiers"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/errdefs"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/identifiers"
 )
 
 const (
diff --git a/pkg/events/exchange/exchange.go b/pkg/events/exchange/exchange.go
index c77e5ff21..b5f30eb06 100644
--- a/pkg/events/exchange/exchange.go
+++ b/pkg/events/exchange/exchange.go
@@ -22,11 +22,11 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/identifiers"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/errdefs"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/events"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/filters"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/identifiers"
 	"github.com/containerd/log"
 	"github.com/containerd/typeurl/v2"
 	goevents "github.com/docker/go-events"
diff --git a/identifiers/validate.go b/pkg/identifiers/validate.go
similarity index 100%
rename from identifiers/validate.go
rename to pkg/identifiers/validate.go
diff --git a/identifiers/validate_test.go b/pkg/identifiers/validate_test.go
similarity index 100%
rename from identifiers/validate_test.go
rename to pkg/identifiers/validate_test.go
diff --git a/runtime/v2/bundle.go b/runtime/v2/bundle.go
index 30f459e56..b82c10b1c 100644
--- a/runtime/v2/bundle.go
+++ b/runtime/v2/bundle.go
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@ import (
 	"runtime"
 
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/mount"
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/identifiers"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/oci"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/identifiers"
 	"github.com/containerd/typeurl/v2"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go"
 )
diff --git a/runtime/v2/shim.go b/runtime/v2/shim.go
index 18a1de3f7..cc1256bd5 100644
--- a/runtime/v2/shim.go
+++ b/runtime/v2/shim.go
@@ -38,9 +38,9 @@ import (
 	eventstypes "github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/api/events"
 	task "github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/api/runtime/task/v3"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/api/types"
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/identifiers"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/errdefs"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/events/exchange"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/identifiers"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/timeout"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/protobuf"
 	ptypes "github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/protobuf/types"