diff --git a/internal/net/grpc/stream.go b/internal/net/grpc/stream.go
index 631d139576..4dc6e56de3 100644
--- a/internal/net/grpc/stream.go
+++ b/internal/net/grpc/stream.go
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ func BidirectionalStreamClient(stream ClientStream,
 	}()
 }
 
-func removeDuplicates[E comparable](x []E, less func(left, right E) int) []E {
+func removeDuplicates[S ~[]E, E comparable](x S, less func(left, right E) int) S {
 	if len(x) < 2 {
 		return x
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/gateway/lb/handler/grpc/aggregation.go b/pkg/gateway/lb/handler/grpc/aggregation.go
index 8a700c8edd..58f749eee0 100644
--- a/pkg/gateway/lb/handler/grpc/aggregation.go
+++ b/pkg/gateway/lb/handler/grpc/aggregation.go
@@ -663,7 +663,7 @@ func (v *valdPoolSliceAggr) Result() (res *payload.Search_Response) {
 	return res
 }
 
-func removeDuplicates[E comparable](x []E, less func(left, right E) int) []E {
+func removeDuplicates[S ~[]E, E comparable](x S, less func(left, right E) int) S {
 	if len(x) < 2 {
 		return x
 	}