diff --git a/resources/net.go b/resources/net.go
index 20a5f32c..bebee3ec 100644
--- a/resources/net.go
+++ b/resources/net.go
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import (
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
 
 	"github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/recwatch"
+	"github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/util"
 
 	multierr "github.com/hashicorp/go-multierror"
 	errwrap "github.com/pkg/errors"
@@ -331,7 +332,7 @@ func (obj *NetRes) addrCheckApply(apply bool) (bool, error) {
 	}
 
 	// if the kernel routes are intact and the addrs match, we're done
-	err = StrSortedSliceCompare(obj.Addrs, ifaceAddrs)
+	err = util.SortedStrSliceCompare(obj.Addrs, ifaceAddrs)
 	if err == nil && kernelOK {
 		return true, nil
 	}
@@ -561,7 +562,7 @@ func (obj *NetRes) Compare(r Res) bool {
 	if (obj.Addrs == nil) != (res.Addrs == nil) {
 		return false
 	}
-	if err := StrSortedSliceCompare(obj.Addrs, res.Addrs); err != nil {
+	if err := util.SortedStrSliceCompare(obj.Addrs, res.Addrs); err != nil {
 		return false
 	}
 	if obj.Gateway != res.Gateway {
diff --git a/resources/util.go b/resources/util.go
index b2ab270f..286aebf3 100644
--- a/resources/util.go
+++ b/resources/util.go
@@ -270,27 +270,3 @@ func GetGID(group string) (int, error) {
 
 	return -1, errwrap.Wrapf(err, "group lookup error (%s)", group)
 }
-
-// StrSortedSliceCompare takes two lists of strings and returns whether or not
-// they are equivalent. It will return nil if both sets contain the same
-// elements, regardless of order, and an error if they do not.
-func StrSortedSliceCompare(a, b []string) error {
-	if len(a) != len(b) {
-		return fmt.Errorf("slices have different lengths: %d vs %d", len(a), len(b))
-	}
-
-	// make a copy of each to sort, so we don't reorder the inputs
-	x := make([]string, len(a))
-	y := make([]string, len(b))
-	copy(x, a)
-	copy(y, b)
-
-	sort.Strings(x)
-	sort.Strings(y)
-	for i := range x {
-		if x[i] != y[i] {
-			return fmt.Errorf("values do not match: %s vs %s", x[i], y[i])
-		}
-	}
-	return nil
-}
diff --git a/resources/util_test.go b/resources/util_test.go
index a4707932..aefdd913 100644
--- a/resources/util_test.go
+++ b/resources/util_test.go
@@ -378,45 +378,3 @@ func TestCurrentUserGroupById(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("gid didn't match current user's: %s vs %s", strconv.Itoa(gid), currentGID)
 	}
 }
-
-func TestStrSortedSliceCompare0(t *testing.T) {
-	slice1 := []string{"foo", "bar", "baz"}
-	slice2 := []string{"bar", "foo", "baz"}
-
-	if err := StrSortedSliceCompare(slice1, slice2); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("slices were not evaluated as equivalent: %v, %v", slice1, slice2)
-	}
-}
-
-func TestStrSortedSliceCompare1(t *testing.T) {
-	slice1 := []string{"foo", "bar", "baz"}
-	slice2 := []string{"fi", "fi", "fo"}
-
-	if err := StrSortedSliceCompare(slice1, slice2); err == nil {
-		t.Errorf("slices were evaluated as equivalent: %v, %v", slice1, slice2)
-	}
-}
-
-func TestStrSortedSliceCompare2(t *testing.T) {
-	slice1 := []string{"foo", "bar", "baz"}
-	slice2 := []string{"foo", "bar"}
-
-	if err := StrSortedSliceCompare(slice1, slice2); err == nil {
-		t.Errorf("slices were evaluated as equivalent: %v, %v", slice1, slice2)
-	}
-}
-
-func TestStrSortedSliceCompare3(t *testing.T) {
-	slice0 := []string{"foo", "bar", "baz"}
-	slice1 := []string{"zip", "zap", "zop"}
-
-	_ = StrSortedSliceCompare(slice0, slice1)
-
-	if slice0[0] != "foo" || slice0[1] != "bar" || slice0[2] != "baz" {
-		t.Errorf("input slice reordered to: %v", slice0)
-	}
-
-	if slice1[0] != "zip" || slice1[1] != "zap" || slice1[2] != "zop" {
-		t.Errorf("input slice reordered to: %v", slice1)
-	}
-}
diff --git a/util/util.go b/util/util.go
index 13cc500f..3bb277a0 100644
--- a/util/util.go
+++ b/util/util.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 package util
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"path"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
@@ -376,3 +377,27 @@ func SystemBusPrivateUsable() (conn *dbus.Conn, err error) {
 	}
 	return conn, nil // success
 }
+
+// SortedStrSliceCompare takes two lists of strings and returns whether or not
+// they are equivalent. It will return nil if both sets contain the same
+// elements, regardless of order, and an error if they do not.
+func SortedStrSliceCompare(a, b []string) error {
+	if len(a) != len(b) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("slices have different lengths: %d vs %d", len(a), len(b))
+	}
+
+	// make a copy of each to sort, so we don't reorder the inputs
+	x := make([]string, len(a))
+	y := make([]string, len(b))
+	copy(x, a)
+	copy(y, b)
+
+	sort.Strings(x)
+	sort.Strings(y)
+	for i := range x {
+		if x[i] != y[i] {
+			return fmt.Errorf("values do not match: %s vs %s", x[i], y[i])
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/util/util_test.go b/util/util_test.go
index b5e2f4ca..f2163c2e 100644
--- a/util/util_test.go
+++ b/util/util_test.go
@@ -813,3 +813,45 @@ func TestUtilFlattenListWithSplit1(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestSortedStrSliceCompare0(t *testing.T) {
+	slice0 := []string{"foo", "bar", "baz"}
+	slice1 := []string{"bar", "foo", "baz"}
+
+	if err := SortedStrSliceCompare(slice0, slice1); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("slices were not evaluated as equivalent: %v, %v", slice0, slice1)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSortedStrSliceCompare1(t *testing.T) {
+	slice0 := []string{"foo", "bar", "baz"}
+	slice1 := []string{"fi", "fi", "fo"}
+
+	if err := SortedStrSliceCompare(slice0, slice1); err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("slices were evaluated as equivalent: %v, %v", slice0, slice1)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSortedStrSliceCompare2(t *testing.T) {
+	slice0 := []string{"foo", "bar", "baz"}
+	slice1 := []string{"foo", "bar"}
+
+	if err := SortedStrSliceCompare(slice0, slice1); err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("slices were evaluated as equivalent: %v, %v", slice0, slice1)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSortedStrSliceCompare3(t *testing.T) {
+	slice0 := []string{"foo", "bar", "baz"}
+	slice1 := []string{"zip", "zap", "zop"}
+
+	_ = SortedStrSliceCompare(slice0, slice1)
+
+	if slice0[0] != "foo" || slice0[1] != "bar" || slice0[2] != "baz" {
+		t.Errorf("input slice reordered to: %v", slice0)
+	}
+
+	if slice1[0] != "zip" || slice1[1] != "zap" || slice1[2] != "zop" {
+		t.Errorf("input slice reordered to: %v", slice1)
+	}
+}