diff --git a/internal/cri/server/images/image_status_test.go b/internal/cri/server/images/image_status_test.go
index e4405be78..a0db783cc 100644
--- a/internal/cri/server/images/image_status_test.go
+++ b/internal/cri/server/images/image_status_test.go
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ import (
 	runtime "k8s.io/cri-api/pkg/apis/runtime/v1"
 
 	imagestore "github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/internal/cri/store/image"
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/internal/cri/util"
 )
 
 func TestImageStatus(t *testing.T) {
@@ -74,22 +73,6 @@ func TestImageStatus(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, expected, resp.GetImage())
 }
 
-func TestParseImageReferences(t *testing.T) {
-	refs := []string{
-		"gcr.io/library/busybox@sha256:e6693c20186f837fc393390135d8a598a96a833917917789d63766cab6c59582",
-		"gcr.io/library/busybox:1.2",
-		"sha256:e6693c20186f837fc393390135d8a598a96a833917917789d63766cab6c59582",
-		"arbitrary-ref",
-	}
-	expectedTags := []string{
-		"gcr.io/library/busybox:1.2",
-	}
-	expectedDigests := []string{"gcr.io/library/busybox@sha256:e6693c20186f837fc393390135d8a598a96a833917917789d63766cab6c59582"}
-	tags, digests := util.ParseImageReferences(refs)
-	assert.Equal(t, expectedTags, tags)
-	assert.Equal(t, expectedDigests, digests)
-}
-
 // TestGetUserFromImage tests the logic of getting image uid or user name of image user.
 func TestGetUserFromImage(t *testing.T) {
 	newI64 := func(i int64) *int64 { return &i }
diff --git a/internal/cri/server/podsandbox/helpers.go b/internal/cri/server/podsandbox/helpers.go
index 8354f6c8c..29c6accce 100644
--- a/internal/cri/server/podsandbox/helpers.go
+++ b/internal/cri/server/podsandbox/helpers.go
@@ -110,24 +110,6 @@ func buildLabels(configLabels, imageConfigLabels map[string]string, containerTyp
 	return labels
 }
 
-// parseImageReferences parses a list of arbitrary image references and returns
-// the repotags and repodigests
-func parseImageReferences(refs []string) ([]string, []string) {
-	var tags, digests []string
-	for _, ref := range refs {
-		parsed, err := docker.ParseAnyReference(ref)
-		if err != nil {
-			continue
-		}
-		if _, ok := parsed.(docker.Canonical); ok {
-			digests = append(digests, parsed.String())
-		} else if _, ok := parsed.(docker.Tagged); ok {
-			tags = append(tags, parsed.String())
-		}
-	}
-	return tags, digests
-}
-
 // getPassthroughAnnotations filters requested pod annotations by comparing
 // against permitted annotations for the given runtime.
 func getPassthroughAnnotations(podAnnotations map[string]string,
diff --git a/internal/cri/server/podsandbox/helpers_test.go b/internal/cri/server/podsandbox/helpers_test.go
index af4112169..f78754503 100644
--- a/internal/cri/server/podsandbox/helpers_test.go
+++ b/internal/cri/server/podsandbox/helpers_test.go
@@ -99,22 +99,6 @@ func TestBuildLabels(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "b", configLabels["a"], "change in new labels should not affect original label")
 }
 
-func TestParseImageReferences(t *testing.T) {
-	refs := []string{
-		"gcr.io/library/busybox@sha256:e6693c20186f837fc393390135d8a598a96a833917917789d63766cab6c59582",
-		"gcr.io/library/busybox:1.2",
-		"sha256:e6693c20186f837fc393390135d8a598a96a833917917789d63766cab6c59582",
-		"arbitrary-ref",
-	}
-	expectedTags := []string{
-		"gcr.io/library/busybox:1.2",
-	}
-	expectedDigests := []string{"gcr.io/library/busybox@sha256:e6693c20186f837fc393390135d8a598a96a833917917789d63766cab6c59582"}
-	tags, digests := parseImageReferences(refs)
-	assert.Equal(t, expectedTags, tags)
-	assert.Equal(t, expectedDigests, digests)
-}
-
 func TestEnvDeduplication(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, test := range []struct {
 		desc     string
diff --git a/internal/cri/util/references_test.go b/internal/cri/util/references_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0f12bee13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/cri/util/references_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+   Copyright The containerd Authors.
+
+   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package util
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestParseImageReferences(t *testing.T) {
+	refs := []string{
+		"gcr.io/library/busybox@sha256:e6693c20186f837fc393390135d8a598a96a833917917789d63766cab6c59582",
+		"gcr.io/library/busybox:1.2",
+		"sha256:e6693c20186f837fc393390135d8a598a96a833917917789d63766cab6c59582",
+		"arbitrary-ref",
+	}
+	expectedTags := []string{
+		"gcr.io/library/busybox:1.2",
+	}
+	expectedDigests := []string{"gcr.io/library/busybox@sha256:e6693c20186f837fc393390135d8a598a96a833917917789d63766cab6c59582"}
+	tags, digests := ParseImageReferences(refs)
+	assert.Equal(t, expectedTags, tags)
+	assert.Equal(t, expectedDigests, digests)
+}