diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/topology_hints_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/topology_hints_test.go
index 3f0be9a6388..f998e734159 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/topology_hints_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/topology_hints_test.go
@@ -29,13 +29,6 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/cm/topologymanager/bitmask"
 )
 
-func topologyHintLessThan(a topologymanager.TopologyHint, b topologymanager.TopologyHint) bool {
-	if a.Preferred != b.Preferred {
-		return a.Preferred == true
-	}
-	return a.NUMANodeAffinity.IsNarrowerThan(b.NUMANodeAffinity)
-}
-
 func TestGetTopologyHints(t *testing.T) {
 	testPod1 := makePod("2", "2")
 	testContainer1 := &testPod1.Spec.Containers[0]
@@ -168,10 +161,10 @@ func TestGetTopologyHints(t *testing.T) {
 			continue
 		}
 		sort.SliceStable(hints, func(i, j int) bool {
-			return topologyHintLessThan(hints[i], hints[j])
+			return hints[i].LessThan(hints[j])
 		})
 		sort.SliceStable(tc.expectedHints, func(i, j int) bool {
-			return topologyHintLessThan(tc.expectedHints[i], tc.expectedHints[j])
+			return tc.expectedHints[i].LessThan(tc.expectedHints[j])
 		})
 		if !reflect.DeepEqual(tc.expectedHints, hints) {
 			t.Errorf("Expected in result to be %v , got %v", tc.expectedHints, hints)
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/cm/devicemanager/topology_hints_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/cm/devicemanager/topology_hints_test.go
index 1222e042e45..e77cf3b4957 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/cm/devicemanager/topology_hints_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/cm/devicemanager/topology_hints_test.go
@@ -44,13 +44,6 @@ func makeNUMADevice(id string, numa int) pluginapi.Device {
 	}
 }
 
-func topologyHintLessThan(a topologymanager.TopologyHint, b topologymanager.TopologyHint) bool {
-	if a.Preferred != b.Preferred {
-		return a.Preferred == true
-	}
-	return a.NUMANodeAffinity.IsNarrowerThan(b.NUMANodeAffinity)
-}
-
 func makeSocketMask(sockets ...int) bitmask.BitMask {
 	mask, _ := bitmask.NewBitMask(sockets...)
 	return mask
@@ -292,10 +285,10 @@ func TestGetTopologyHints(t *testing.T) {
 
 		for r := range tc.expectedHints {
 			sort.SliceStable(hints[r], func(i, j int) bool {
-				return topologyHintLessThan(hints[r][i], hints[r][j])
+				return hints[r][i].LessThan(hints[r][j])
 			})
 			sort.SliceStable(tc.expectedHints[r], func(i, j int) bool {
-				return topologyHintLessThan(tc.expectedHints[r][i], tc.expectedHints[r][j])
+				return tc.expectedHints[r][i].LessThan(tc.expectedHints[r][j])
 			})
 			if !reflect.DeepEqual(hints[r], tc.expectedHints[r]) {
 				t.Errorf("%v: Expected result to be %v, got %v", tc.description, tc.expectedHints[r], hints[r])
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/cm/topologymanager/topology_manager.go b/pkg/kubelet/cm/topologymanager/topology_manager.go
index e8cb592fac5..03243e21701 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/cm/topologymanager/topology_manager.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/cm/topologymanager/topology_manager.go
@@ -94,6 +94,27 @@ type TopologyHint struct {
 	Preferred bool
 }
 
+// IsEqual checks if TopologyHint are equal
+func (th *TopologyHint) IsEqual(topologyHint TopologyHint) bool {
+	if th.Preferred == topologyHint.Preferred {
+		if th.NUMANodeAffinity == nil || topologyHint.NUMANodeAffinity == nil {
+			return th.NUMANodeAffinity == topologyHint.NUMANodeAffinity
+		}
+		return th.NUMANodeAffinity.IsEqual(topologyHint.NUMANodeAffinity)
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// LessThan checks if TopologyHint `a` is less than TopologyHint `b`
+// this means that either `a` is a preferred hint and `b` is not
+// or `a` NUMANodeAffinity attribute is narrower than `b` NUMANodeAffinity attribute.
+func (th *TopologyHint) LessThan(other TopologyHint) bool {
+	if th.Preferred != other.Preferred {
+		return th.Preferred == true
+	}
+	return th.NUMANodeAffinity.IsNarrowerThan(other.NUMANodeAffinity)
+}
+
 var _ Manager = &manager{}
 
 //NewManager creates a new TopologyManager based on provided policy