diff --git a/internal/inspect/inspect.go b/internal/inspect/inspect.go
index 6381ea888..573b63f40 100644
--- a/internal/inspect/inspect.go
+++ b/internal/inspect/inspect.go
@@ -10,13 +10,13 @@ import (
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/config"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/eventbus"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/inspect/rpc"
+	tmstrings "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/libs/strings"
 	rpccore "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/rpc/core"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/state"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/state/indexer"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/state/indexer/sink"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/store"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/log"
-	tmstrings "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/strings"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/types"
 
 	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
diff --git a/libs/strings/string.go b/internal/libs/strings/string.go
similarity index 100%
rename from libs/strings/string.go
rename to internal/libs/strings/string.go
diff --git a/libs/strings/string_test.go b/internal/libs/strings/string_test.go
similarity index 100%
rename from libs/strings/string_test.go
rename to internal/libs/strings/string_test.go
diff --git a/internal/rpc/core/env.go b/internal/rpc/core/env.go
index 124525f26..f1ba58ee3 100644
--- a/internal/rpc/core/env.go
+++ b/internal/rpc/core/env.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/consensus"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/eventbus"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/eventlog"
+	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/libs/strings"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/mempool"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/p2p"
 	tmpubsub "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/pubsub"
@@ -26,7 +27,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/state/indexer"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/statesync"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/log"
-	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/strings"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/rpc/coretypes"
 	rpcserver "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/rpc/jsonrpc/server"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/types"
diff --git a/node/setup.go b/node/setup.go
index df9d19195..38ad58518 100644
--- a/node/setup.go
+++ b/node/setup.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/consensus"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/eventbus"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/evidence"
+	tmstrings "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/libs/strings"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/mempool"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/p2p"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/p2p/conn"
@@ -28,7 +29,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/log"
 	tmnet "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/net"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/service"
-	tmstrings "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/strings"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/privval"
 	tmgrpc "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/privval/grpc"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/types"
diff --git a/types/node_info.go b/types/node_info.go
index fd47816e2..bc614f55e 100644
--- a/types/node_info.go
+++ b/types/node_info.go
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
+	tmstrings "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/libs/strings"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/bytes"
-	tmstrings "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/strings"
 	tmp2p "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/proto/tendermint/p2p"
 )
 
diff --git a/types/params.go b/types/params.go
index 28c969e46..754b50322 100644
--- a/types/params.go
+++ b/types/params.go
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/crypto/ed25519"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/crypto/secp256k1"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/crypto/sr25519"
-	tmstrings "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/strings"
+	tmstrings "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/libs/strings"
 	tmproto "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/proto/tendermint/types"
 )