diff --git a/cmd/nerdctl/run_restart.go b/cmd/nerdctl/run_restart.go
index 52fb392adf9..935fc700e27 100644
--- a/cmd/nerdctl/run_restart.go
+++ b/cmd/nerdctl/run_restart.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
-	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd"
@@ -70,13 +69,6 @@ func generateRestartOpts(ctx context.Context, client *containerd.Client, restart
 	return opts, nil
 }
 
-func updateContainerStoppedLabel(ctx context.Context, container containerd.Container, stopped bool) error {
-	opt := containerd.WithAdditionalContainerLabels(map[string]string{
-		restart.ExplicitlyStoppedLabel: strconv.FormatBool(stopped),
-	})
-	return container.Update(ctx, containerd.UpdateContainerOpts(opt))
-}
-
 func updateContainerRestartPolicyLabel(ctx context.Context, client *containerd.Client, container containerd.Container, restartFlag string) error {
 	if _, err := checkRestartCapabilities(ctx, client, restartFlag); err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/cmd/nerdctl/start.go b/cmd/nerdctl/start.go
index 57248f15fd5..da6aa16b4a7 100644
--- a/cmd/nerdctl/start.go
+++ b/cmd/nerdctl/start.go
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ func startContainer(ctx context.Context, container containerd.Container, flagA b
 		logrus.Warnf("container %s is already running", container.ID())
 		return nil
 	}
-	if err := updateContainerStoppedLabel(ctx, container, false); err != nil {
+	if err := containerutil.UpdateExplicitlyStoppedLabel(ctx, container, false); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	if oldTask, err := container.Task(ctx, nil); err == nil {
diff --git a/cmd/nerdctl/stop.go b/cmd/nerdctl/stop.go
index f44c1921608..bef617fa287 100644
--- a/cmd/nerdctl/stop.go
+++ b/cmd/nerdctl/stop.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/containerd/nerdctl/pkg/clientutil"
+	"github.com/containerd/nerdctl/pkg/containerutil"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd"
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@ func stopAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 }
 
 func stopContainer(ctx context.Context, container containerd.Container, timeout *time.Duration) error {
-	if err := updateContainerStoppedLabel(ctx, container, true); err != nil {
+	if err := containerutil.UpdateExplicitlyStoppedLabel(ctx, container, true); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/containerutil/containerutil.go b/pkg/containerutil/containerutil.go
index ce04c63cc07..ec2ee1fb41a 100644
--- a/pkg/containerutil/containerutil.go
+++ b/pkg/containerutil/containerutil.go
@@ -20,10 +20,12 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/runtime/restart"
 	"github.com/containerd/nerdctl/pkg/portutil"
 )
 
@@ -84,3 +86,12 @@ func ContainerNetNSPath(ctx context.Context, c containerd.Container) (string, er
 	}
 	return fmt.Sprintf("/proc/%d/ns/net", task.Pid()), nil
 }
+
+// UpdateExplicitlyStoppedLabel updates the "containerd.io/restart.explicitly-stopped"
+// label of the container according to the value of explicitlyStopped.
+func UpdateExplicitlyStoppedLabel(ctx context.Context, container containerd.Container, explicitlyStopped bool) error {
+	opt := containerd.WithAdditionalContainerLabels(map[string]string{
+		restart.ExplicitlyStoppedLabel: strconv.FormatBool(explicitlyStopped),
+	})
+	return container.Update(ctx, containerd.UpdateContainerOpts(opt))
+}