diff --git a/pkg/netns/netns_linux.go b/pkg/netns/netns_linux.go
index 1aa797d10..3a3372889 100644
--- a/pkg/netns/netns_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/netns/netns_linux.go
@@ -62,12 +62,26 @@ func NewNSAtPath(nsPath string) (ns.NetNS, error) {
 // NewNS creates a new persistent (bind-mounted) network namespace and returns
 // an object representing that namespace, without switching to it.
 func NewNS() (ns.NetNS, error) {
+	nsRunDir, err := GetNSRunDir()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// Create the directory for mounting network namespaces
+	// This needs to be a shared mountpoint in case it is mounted in to
+	// other namespaces (containers)
+	err = makeNetnsDir(nsRunDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	for i := 0; i < 10000; i++ {
 		nsName, err := getRandomNetnsName()
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		ns, err := NewNSWithName(nsName)
+		nsPath := path.Join(nsRunDir, nsName)
+		ns, err := newNSPath(nsPath)
 		if err == nil {
 			return ns, nil
 		}
@@ -80,26 +94,6 @@ func NewNS() (ns.NetNS, error) {
 	return nil, errNoFreeName
 }
 
-// NewNSWithName creates a new persistent (bind-mounted) network namespace and returns
-// an object representing that namespace, without switching to it.
-func NewNSWithName(name string) (ns.NetNS, error) {
-	nsRunDir, err := GetNSRunDir()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	// Create the directory for mounting network namespaces
-	// This needs to be a shared mountpoint in case it is mounted in to
-	// other namespaces (containers)
-	err = makeNetnsDir(nsRunDir)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	nsPath := path.Join(nsRunDir, name)
-	return newNSPath(nsPath)
-}
-
 // NewNSFrom creates a persistent (bind-mounted) network namespace from the
 // given netns path, i.e. /proc/<pid>/ns/net, and returns the new full path to
 // the bind mounted file in the netns run dir.