diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types/namespacedname.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types/namespacedname.go
index 88f0de36db3..b19750f3a0b 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types/namespacedname.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types/namespacedname.go
@@ -16,10 +16,6 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 package types
 
-import (
-	"fmt"
-)
-
 // NamespacedName comprises a resource name, with a mandatory namespace,
 // rendered as "<namespace>/<name>".  Being a type captures intent and
 // helps make sure that UIDs, namespaced names and non-namespaced names
@@ -39,5 +35,5 @@ const (
 
 // String returns the general purpose string representation
 func (n NamespacedName) String() string {
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s%c%s", n.Namespace, Separator, n.Name)
+	return n.Namespace + string(Separator) + n.Name
 }