diff --git a/hack/tools/go.mod b/hack/tools/go.mod
index 61a21552ee0..e827a25232c 100644
--- a/hack/tools/go.mod
+++ b/hack/tools/go.mod
@@ -5,36 +5,29 @@ go 1.24.0
 godebug default=go1.24
 
 require (
-	github.com/aojea/sloppy-netparser v0.0.0-20210819225411-1b3bd8b3b975
-	github.com/cespare/prettybench v0.0.0-20150116022406-03b8cfe5406c
-	github.com/golangci/misspell v0.6.0
-	github.com/jcchavezs/porto v0.6.0
-	github.com/vektra/mockery/v2 v2.53.3
 	go.uber.org/automaxprocs v1.6.0
 	golang.org/x/mod v0.24.0
-	golang.org/x/tools v0.32.0
-	google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc v1.5.1
-	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.4
-	gotest.tools/gotestsum v1.12.0
-	honnef.co/go/tools v0.6.1
 	k8s.io/publishing-bot v0.5.0
-	sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.6.0
 )
 
 require (
 	github.com/BurntSushi/toml v1.5.0 // indirect
+	github.com/aojea/sloppy-netparser v0.0.0-20210819225411-1b3bd8b3b975 // indirect
 	github.com/bitfield/gotestdox v0.2.2 // indirect
+	github.com/cespare/prettybench v0.0.0-20150116022406-03b8cfe5406c // indirect
 	github.com/chigopher/pathlib v0.19.1 // indirect
 	github.com/dnephin/pflag v1.0.7 // indirect
 	github.com/fatih/color v1.18.0 // indirect
 	github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify v1.8.0 // indirect
 	github.com/go-viper/mapstructure/v2 v2.2.1 // indirect
 	github.com/golang/glog v1.2.2 // indirect
+	github.com/golangci/misspell v0.6.0 // indirect
 	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.7.0 // indirect
 	github.com/google/shlex v0.0.0-20191202100458-e7afc7fbc510 // indirect
 	github.com/huandu/xstrings v1.4.0 // indirect
 	github.com/iancoleman/strcase v0.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0 // indirect
+	github.com/jcchavezs/porto v0.6.0 // indirect
 	github.com/jinzhu/copier v0.4.0 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.14 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 // indirect
@@ -51,6 +44,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.6 // indirect
 	github.com/spf13/viper v1.20.0 // indirect
 	github.com/subosito/gotenv v1.6.0 // indirect
+	github.com/vektra/mockery/v2 v2.53.3 // indirect
 	go.uber.org/multierr v1.11.0 // indirect
 	go.yaml.in/yaml/v3 v3.0.3 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/exp/typeparams v0.0.0-20250210185358-939b2ce775ac // indirect
@@ -58,7 +52,30 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.32.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/term v0.29.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/text v0.24.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/tools v0.32.0 // indirect
+	google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc v1.5.1 // indirect
+	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.4 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20201130134442-10cb98267c6c // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.4.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
+	gotest.tools/gotestsum v1.12.0 // indirect
+	honnef.co/go/tools v0.6.1 // indirect
+	sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.6.0 // indirect
+)
+
+tool (
+	github.com/aojea/sloppy-netparser
+	github.com/cespare/prettybench
+	github.com/golangci/misspell
+	github.com/jcchavezs/porto/cmd/porto
+	github.com/vektra/mockery/v2
+	go.uber.org/automaxprocs
+	golang.org/x/mod/modfile
+	golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports
+	google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc
+	google.golang.org/protobuf/cmd/protoc-gen-go
+	gotest.tools/gotestsum
+	honnef.co/go/tools/cmd/staticcheck
+	k8s.io/publishing-bot/cmd/publishing-bot/config
+	sigs.k8s.io/yaml/yamlfmt
 )
diff --git a/hack/tools/tools.go b/hack/tools/tools.go
deleted file mode 100644
index a990be87879..00000000000
--- a/hack/tools/tools.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Copyright 2019 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 tools is used to track binary dependencies with go modules
-// https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/Modules#how-can-i-track-tool-dependencies-for-a-module
-package tools
-
-import (
-	// linting tools
-	_ "github.com/aojea/sloppy-netparser"
-	_ "github.com/golangci/misspell"
-	_ "github.com/jcchavezs/porto/cmd/porto"
-	_ "honnef.co/go/tools/cmd/staticcheck"
-
-	// benchmarking tools
-	_ "github.com/cespare/prettybench"
-	_ "gotest.tools/gotestsum"
-
-	// mockery
-	_ "github.com/vektra/mockery/v2"
-
-	// tools like cpu
-	_ "go.uber.org/automaxprocs"
-
-	// for publishing bot
-	_ "golang.org/x/mod/modfile"
-	_ "k8s.io/publishing-bot/cmd/publishing-bot/config"
-
-	// used by go-to-protobuf
-	_ "golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports"
-
-	// protobuf generation
-	_ "google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc"
-	_ "google.golang.org/protobuf/cmd/protoc-gen-go"
-
-	// yamlfmt
-	_ "sigs.k8s.io/yaml/yamlfmt"
-)