diff --git a/tools/cache/reflector_data_consistency_detector.go b/tools/cache/reflector_data_consistency_detector.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bd857de7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/cache/reflector_data_consistency_detector.go
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes 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 cache
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
+
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/util/consistencydetector"
+)
+
+var dataConsistencyDetectionForWatchListEnabled = false
+
+func init() {
+	dataConsistencyDetectionForWatchListEnabled, _ = strconv.ParseBool(os.Getenv("KUBE_WATCHLIST_INCONSISTENCY_DETECTOR"))
+}
+
+// checkWatchListDataConsistencyIfRequested performs a data consistency check only when
+// the KUBE_WATCHLIST_INCONSISTENCY_DETECTOR environment variable was set during a binary startup.
+//
+// The consistency check is meant to be enforced only in the CI, not in production.
+// The check ensures that data retrieved by the watch-list api call
+// is exactly the same as data received by the standard list api call against etcd.
+//
+// Note that this function will panic when data inconsistency is detected.
+// This is intentional because we want to catch it in the CI.
+func checkWatchListDataConsistencyIfRequested[T runtime.Object, U any](ctx context.Context, identity string, lastSyncedResourceVersion string, listFn consistencydetector.ListFunc[T], retrieveItemsFn consistencydetector.RetrieveItemsFunc[U]) {
+	if !dataConsistencyDetectionForWatchListEnabled {
+		return
+	}
+	// for informers we pass an empty ListOptions because
+	// listFn might be wrapped for filtering during informer construction.
+	consistencydetector.CheckDataConsistency(ctx, identity, lastSyncedResourceVersion, listFn, metav1.ListOptions{}, retrieveItemsFn)
+}
diff --git a/tools/cache/reflector_data_consistency_detector_test.go b/tools/cache/reflector_data_consistency_detector_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7d0d8bb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/cache/reflector_data_consistency_detector_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2024 The Kubernetes 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 cache
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+)
+
+func TestDriveWatchLisConsistencyIfRequired(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.TODO()
+	checkWatchListDataConsistencyIfRequested[runtime.Object, runtime.Object](ctx, "", "", nil, nil)
+}
diff --git a/util/consistencydetector/data_consistency_detector.go b/util/consistencydetector/data_consistency_detector.go
index 084f1322..64288eb8 100644
--- a/util/consistencydetector/data_consistency_detector.go
+++ b/util/consistencydetector/data_consistency_detector.go
@@ -19,9 +19,7 @@ package consistencydetector
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
-	"os"
 	"sort"
-	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
@@ -33,34 +31,10 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 )
 
-var dataConsistencyDetectionForWatchListEnabled = false
-
-func init() {
-	dataConsistencyDetectionForWatchListEnabled, _ = strconv.ParseBool(os.Getenv("KUBE_WATCHLIST_INCONSISTENCY_DETECTOR"))
-}
-
 type RetrieveItemsFunc[U any] func() []U
 
 type ListFunc[T runtime.Object] func(ctx context.Context, options metav1.ListOptions) (T, error)
 
-// checkWatchListDataConsistencyIfRequested performs a data consistency check only when
-// the KUBE_WATCHLIST_INCONSISTENCY_DETECTOR environment variable was set during a binary startup.
-//
-// The consistency check is meant to be enforced only in the CI, not in production.
-// The check ensures that data retrieved by the watch-list api call
-// is exactly the same as data received by the standard list api call against etcd.
-//
-// Note that this function will panic when data inconsistency is detected.
-// This is intentional because we want to catch it in the CI.
-func checkWatchListDataConsistencyIfRequested[T runtime.Object, U any](ctx context.Context, identity string, lastSyncedResourceVersion string, listFn ListFunc[T], retrieveItemsFn RetrieveItemsFunc[U]) {
-	if !dataConsistencyDetectionForWatchListEnabled {
-		return
-	}
-	// for informers we pass an empty ListOptions because
-	// listFn might be wrapped for filtering during informer construction.
-	CheckDataConsistency(ctx, identity, lastSyncedResourceVersion, listFn, metav1.ListOptions{}, retrieveItemsFn)
-}
-
 // CheckDataConsistency exists solely for testing purposes.
 // we cannot use checkWatchListDataConsistencyIfRequested because
 // it is guarded by an environmental variable.
diff --git a/util/consistencydetector/data_consistency_detector_test.go b/util/consistencydetector/data_consistency_detector_test.go
index 9cbe036e..c6d21754 100644
--- a/util/consistencydetector/data_consistency_detector_test.go
+++ b/util/consistencydetector/data_consistency_detector_test.go
@@ -118,11 +118,6 @@ func TestDataConsistencyChecker(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestDriveWatchLisConsistencyIfRequired(t *testing.T) {
-	ctx := context.TODO()
-	checkWatchListDataConsistencyIfRequested[runtime.Object, runtime.Object](ctx, "", "", nil, nil)
-}
-
 func TestDataConsistencyCheckerRetry(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx := context.TODO()
 	retrievedItemsFunc := func() []*v1.Pod {