diff --git a/federation/pkg/federatedtypes/adapter.go b/federation/pkg/federatedtypes/adapter.go
index c3ea3b2b635..4d6ab764c88 100644
--- a/federation/pkg/federatedtypes/adapter.go
+++ b/federation/pkg/federatedtypes/adapter.go
@@ -61,3 +61,12 @@ type FederatedTypeAdapter interface {
 // be registered with RegisterAdapterFactory to ensure the type
 // adapter is discoverable.
 type AdapterFactory func(client federationclientset.Interface) FederatedTypeAdapter
+
+// SetAnnotation sets the given key and value in the given object's ObjectMeta.Annotations map
+func SetAnnotation(adapter FederatedTypeAdapter, obj pkgruntime.Object, key, value string) {
+	meta := adapter.ObjectMeta(obj)
+	if meta.Annotations == nil {
+		meta.Annotations = make(map[string]string)
+	}
+	meta.Annotations[key] = value
+}
diff --git a/federation/pkg/federatedtypes/crudtester/crudtester.go b/federation/pkg/federatedtypes/crudtester/crudtester.go
index f8ca4ef17e6..8145d604398 100644
--- a/federation/pkg/federatedtypes/crudtester/crudtester.go
+++ b/federation/pkg/federatedtypes/crudtester/crudtester.go
@@ -193,11 +193,7 @@ func (c *FederatedTypeCRUDTester) waitForResource(client clientset.Interface, ob
 func (c *FederatedTypeCRUDTester) updateFedObject(obj pkgruntime.Object) (pkgruntime.Object, error) {
 	err := wait.PollImmediate(c.waitInterval, wait.ForeverTestTimeout, func() (bool, error) {
 		// Target the metadata for simplicity (it's type-agnostic)
-		meta := c.adapter.ObjectMeta(obj)
-		if meta.Annotations == nil {
-			meta.Annotations = make(map[string]string)
-		}
-		meta.Annotations[AnnotationTestFederationCRUDUpdate] = "updated"
+		federatedtypes.SetAnnotation(c.adapter, obj, AnnotationTestFederationCRUDUpdate, "updated")
 
 		_, err := c.adapter.FedUpdate(obj)
 		if errors.IsConflict(err) {