diff --git a/cmd/kube-proxy/app/conntrack.go b/cmd/kube-proxy/app/conntrack.go
index d65adab9580..6865af91349 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-proxy/app/conntrack.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-proxy/app/conntrack.go
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ func (realConntracker) SetMax(max int) error {
 	}
 	// TODO: generify this and sysctl to a new sysfs.WriteInt()
 	glog.Infof("Setting conntrack hashsize to %d", max/4)
-	return ioutil.WriteFile("/sys/module/nf_conntrack/parameters/hashsize", []byte(strconv.Itoa(max/4)), 0640)
+	return writeIntStringFile("/sys/module/nf_conntrack/parameters/hashsize", max/4)
 }
 
 func (realConntracker) SetTCPEstablishedTimeout(seconds int) error {
@@ -86,3 +86,7 @@ func isSysFSWritable() (bool, error) {
 	}
 	return false, nil
 }
+
+func writeIntStringFile(filename string, value int) error {
+	return ioutil.WriteFile(filename, []byte(strconv.Itoa(value)), 0640)
+}