diff --git a/src/go/build/build.go b/src/go/build/build.go
index 76866c7487a..68fb8dbbd7a 100644
--- a/src/go/build/build.go
+++ b/src/go/build/build.go
@@ -1139,7 +1139,7 @@ func (ctxt *Context) importGo(p *Package, path, srcDir string, mode ImportMode)
 	// we must not being doing special things like AllowBinary or IgnoreVendor,
 	// and all the file system callbacks must be nil (we're meant to use the local file system).
 	if mode&AllowBinary != 0 || mode&IgnoreVendor != 0 ||
-		ctxt.JoinPath != nil || ctxt.SplitPathList != nil || ctxt.IsAbsPath != nil || ctxt.IsDir != nil || ctxt.HasSubdir != nil || ctxt.ReadDir != nil || ctxt.OpenFile != nil || !equal(ctxt.ToolTags, defaultToolTags) || !equal(ctxt.ReleaseTags, defaultReleaseTags) {
+		ctxt.JoinPath != nil || ctxt.SplitPathList != nil || ctxt.IsAbsPath != nil || ctxt.IsDir != nil || ctxt.HasSubdir != nil || ctxt.ReadDir != nil || ctxt.OpenFile != nil || !slices.Equal(ctxt.ToolTags, defaultToolTags) || !slices.Equal(ctxt.ReleaseTags, defaultReleaseTags) {
 		return errNoModules
 	}
 
@@ -1279,18 +1279,6 @@ func (ctxt *Context) importGo(p *Package, path, srcDir string, mode ImportMode)
 	return nil
 }
 
-func equal(x, y []string) bool {
-	if len(x) != len(y) {
-		return false
-	}
-	for i, xi := range x {
-		if xi != y[i] {
-			return false
-		}
-	}
-	return true
-}
-
 // hasGoFiles reports whether dir contains any files with names ending in .go.
 // For a vendor check we must exclude directories that contain no .go files.
 // Otherwise it is not possible to vendor just a/b/c and still import the